How Daniel and Vala met:The Alternate Scenarios
by acer-sigma
Summary: A series of one shots focusing on the many alternate ways that Daniel and Vala could have met.
1. Cellmates

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternative Scenarios**

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 are not my property, if they were I would have found a way to renew it into an eleventh season and beyond.

A/N: Like to thank MilenaD and gioiagg for suggesting I give this writing thing a go. So been toying around with the idea of other ways Daniel could have been introduced to our favourite space pirate. This one's kind of longer than I expected, but I guess it works. Just don't expect any of my other first meetings to be this long.

**Cellmates**

Daniel groaned as he picked himself up off the floor where he had been gracelessly thrown. Looking around the rather darkened cell he couldn't help but groan again over his situation.

"Maybe Jack's right, I really should learn to just keep my mouth shut sometimes," he mumbled to himself. Taking another quick look at his cell, he decided that he might as well make himself comfortable until the team showed up to rescue him. With that thought in mind he proceeded to the cot in the corner to sit down.

As he moved to sit down, Daniel failed to notice the figure stirring on the cot. He also failed to notice as the figure suddenly shot out a leg and struck him in the back. Already off balance, Daniel went flying forward onto his hands and knees. As he looked up, his attacker moved quickly towards him.

"Did you really think I would just lay there while you tried to have your way with me!" Demanded the figure, who Daniel had just now realised was female.

Realising what she thought he was attempting to do he began to protest, "No wait you don't…" but was quickly silenced by a boot to the head. Groaning at the contact, Daniel barely kept himself from falling completely to the ground. After several more failed attempts at communication, and several more bruises, Daniel finally decided to go on the defensive.

Daniel's fist lashed out and struck his target, his follow up strike however was deflected and he received a knee to the gut. As he doubled over in pain, he received an uppercut to the face and he collapsed to the floor. Seconds later he opened his eyes as he felt a sudden weight on his chest. He froze as he realised the position he was suddenly in. His opponent's thighs were holding his head in place as she leaned over him a dark look on her face.

Her hand suddenly clamped onto his jaw as she glared at him. "You had better answer my questions or this," she made a gesture with her other hand, "is as close to a woman as you'll ever get to in your very short life! Do you understand?" She demanded.

Daniel could only uncomfortably nod his head.

"Good boy," she said. "Now how many guards are there? When are they coming back? And where are the keys to the cell?" At the look of confusion she received, she sighed and continued, "you don't have to answer them in order, just talk!" She emphasised with a squeeze on his jaw.

"Mphh…mphh," Daniel could only mumble in his position, as he hoped the rest of the team would arrive soon to rescue him from this mad woman. He quickly hoped otherwise though as he suddenly remembered the position he was in.

"Oh sorry, I forgot," his captor stated as she released her hand from his jaw, "now talk!"

"Not guard….prisoner." Daniel wheezed out in between breaths.

"Prisoner?" The woman said as she took a closer look at him and the parts of his uniform that were visible. "If you're a prisoner, then why did you act like those despicable guards?" At his confused look, she continued with a glare, "you Mr. Not a guard, were trying to get into my bed!"

At the accusation, Daniel quickly stammered out an explanation, "No, no it's all a misunderstanding, I just wanted to sit down. I didn't see you, I swear!"

"Oh.. well I suppose that's possible," the woman said as she leaned back a little, "well than, I guess I should apologise for beating you up," she finished lightly with an amused smile.

"Yeah, uh…no problem, could you please get off me now!"

"Well, I don't know…I am quite comfortable, and you may still try to ravage me"

"Don't worry I'll control myself!" Daniel stated as he glared up at the woman, "now if you could please get off me!"

"Oh alright…spoilsport." Slowly getting up, the woman made a show of dusting herself off before offering a hand to Daniel.

Looking at it suspiciously for a moment, Daniel took it and allowed her to pull him up. Unfortunately, when she did so, his weight unbalanced her and they both collapsed onto the cot.

"Well now Darling I see you couldn't control yourself after all, very well then ravage away," she said as she threw her head back.

"Ah, no thanks," Daniel said as he quickly got up and moved to the other side of the cell. Really what was with this woman he thought to himself.

"Oh really Darling there's no need to be shy, come on there's plenty of room to sit," she stated as she patted the spot beside her, "Don't worry I won't bite, that is unless you want me to that is!"

"That's o.k. really, I feel like standing, work out a few of the kinks you know"

"Whatever you say darling," the woman said as she laid down on her side, "so are you going to introduce yourself? I mean it is the less you could do after trying to crawl into my bed," she asked with a grin.

"Daniel Jackson," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "And you?"

"Vala Mal Doran ."

"Well Vala, nice to meet you…I guess, so what are you in for?"

Vala sat up as she spoke, "well the locals took it as an affront when I tried to retrieve a little trinket from their local alter."

"You're a thief !" Daniel stated as he stared at her.

"I prefer the term acquisitions specialist thank you very much, and besides its not like they were using it for anything important." Vala stated as she leaned back against the wall.

"Nothing important, it was a religious item!" Daniel cried out in disbelief.

"Yes to a false god, who stole it from someone else, someone else who is willing to pay a finders fee for its return, so excuse me for not taking its religious importance seriously."

"But that shouldn't matter, its still important to these people, it's a part of their culture."

Waving her hand, "Yes, yes whatever you say darling," Vala stated, "so what innocent crime are you in for then? Certainly not for removing cultural items I'll assume."

"Uh…well I uh," Daniel stated hesitantly, which only spurred Vala's interest.

"I didn't quite get that, could you speak up darling."

Sighing Daniel leaned his head back against the wall and muttered, "I tried to tell them their gods were a parasitic race of impostors."

"Ah…so you're a heretic then! You know Daniel you really shouldn't dispute a people's religion. They tend to get… violent when you do."

"It's not the same thing…you were stealing and I was trying to tell them the truth!"

"Well, technically you were trying to steal their faith, and considering we both don't take much stock in the goa'uld as gods," she said with a look of revulsion, "I think that makes us pretty equal on their list of offences, don't you?"

"Guess your right." He mused, "We are pretty much in the same boat," he stated. Seeing Vala's look of confusion, he elaborated, "it means were in the same situation."

"Oh alright then. So any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"Well I was thinking of waiting for my team to come bust me out of here, when you…." Suddenly Daniel remembered why she had attacked him. "When you jumped me, you thought I was one of the guards. Have you.., I mean have they…"

Realising what he was asking, Vala shook her head, "no but a couple of them have been insinuating it, I figured one of them finally got up the nerve to try something."

"Then we can't just wait around for my friends in case the bastards do work up the nerve!" Daniel stated as he moved to sit next to Vala. "So any ideas?"

"Not really, you pretty much saw my first plan. With you in here there'll probably be more than one guard when they check in, so we'll have to find some way to distract them."

"That's a given," Daniel said with a nod, "the question is how?"

Vala looked Daniel up and down before replying with a grin, "Well we could give them a show."

Shooting her a glare, "Would you stop doing that! This is serious!"

"Oh don't I know it, we are after all trying to come up with a way to defend my honour." Vala replied flippantly.

Daniel winced at the reminder. "Sorry it's just that you don't seem too concerned about what might happen."

Vala simply shrugged as she stared at the wall in front of her. "I've simply learned that unpleasant things happen to people," she said with a bitter smile, "there's no use stressing about it," turning to him she smiled brightly, "doesn't mean that I'm going to go quietly though!"

Daniel couldn't help but stare at the woman beside him, as he wondered exactly what had happened to her in the past to give her such an outlook on life. Before he could voice his question, they both turned to the cell door as noises were heard outside. Without thinking Daniel suddenly reached out and grabbed Vala's head. The stunned expression on her face quickly disappeared as he brought his lips to hers. As the kiss deepened, they both failed to notice the cell door open, as well as the three figures that stood gawking at the doorway.

Several Minutes Earlier 

"Carter are you sure this is where they took Daniel?" Asked Jack O'Neill as he quickly scanned the building.

"Yes sir. I followed them at a distance when they took him a way, but this is the place!"

"Works for me." Replied Jack, and then turning to the third member of their rescue party, he asked, "Teal'c whatcha find out?"

"It indeed appears likely that DanielJackson was brought to this location," Teal'c replied. "There are two guards in the main room, they appear to be inebriated." He finished with a mixed look of disgust and distain.

"All the better for us. We go in zat the guards, grab Daniel and his gear, head straight for the gate, dial home and be back for dinner! Any questions? No. Good, lets go rescue Spacemonkey." With that, Jack O'Neill drew his zat and proceeded towards the building, Sam and Teal'c close behind him.

Present 

"You know that was disgustingly easy," voiced Jack as they moved towards the cells.

"Indeed," replied Teal'c with a nod.

Carter just shook her head at her CO's commentary.

"Right here we are," Jack announced as he moved to throw open the cell door. "Daniel were here to…" the rest of his retort died on his lips as he and the rest of SG-1 came upon the sight of their resident archaeologist locked in a passionate kiss with an unknown woman.

Shaken off his stupor, Jack turned to the rest of SG-1, "Why does he get to have the nice interrogation techniques on him?"

The rest of the team remained silent as they continued to stare at the scene before them, as the two made no move to acknowledge their audience.

After a about minute with no sign of the two coming up for air, Jack cleared his throat, when they failed to notice that, he shook his head and proceed to call out Daniel's name.

"Daniel…hello, Daniel…Hey DANIEL!"

The two quickly sprung apart as they became aware of their audience. Daniel seeing who it was quickly looked away as the heat rushed to his face. Suddenly realising that he still had an arm around Vala's waist, he quickly let go and turned to his teammates.

Vala simply looked on in amusement as Daniel greeted his friends.

"Jack…Ah…hey guys...a…this really isn't what it looks like," Daniel stammered.

"Oh really," Jack said slowly with a smile, "cause it looks like you were busy getting it on with the lovely lady," he finished with a nod at Vala, who returned it with a smile.

"I was not…it was meant to be a distraction for the guards when they came back!" Daniel retorted with a glare at Jack.

"Right, well I have to admit it sure did look pretty distracting, wouldn't you say so guys?" Jack asked his other teammates.

"Yes sir!"

"Indeed."

Both Sam and Teal'c replied at the same time, the former while trying and failing to contain the grin threatening to spread across her face.

"It was Vala's idea!" Daniel ground out as he shifted his glare over to his two other teammates.

"Actually, as I recall," Vala began with a wide grin as the glare was suddenly directed at her, "I said we should put on a show, which you disagreed with...the next thing I know," she continued as the glare intensified, "you were trying to devour me with your mouth!"

"I was not, it was a simple kiss nothing more. Its not my fault if your hormones decided to take advantage of the situation." Daniel retorted.

Jack simply looked between the two with a growing smirk. He hadn't SEEN Daniel this flustered in awhile. She really knew how to push his buttons. He was beginning to like this woman. His smirk got even wider as he caught her retort to Daniel's statement.

"Excuse me, my hormones," Vala exclaimed, "I'll have you know that I was lips, you were tongue in that little exchange!"

"Wha…wha…" Daniel sputtered as he tried to come up with a response.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, Sam chuckled and Jack simply shook his head in amusement.

"Alright kids," Jack decided to put an end to things, "enough is enough. Now Daniel, unless you want us to come back for you and your girlfriend," he grinned as Daniel gave him a death glare, "I suggest we get going, after all this is a jail break." When Daniel failed to say anything, Jack turned to Vala, "Now Vala was it?" At her nod he continued,

"Well Vala your welcome to come with us." He only grinned more, boy was his mouth starting to hurt was the thought running through his mind, as Daniel increased his glare.

"Thank you Jack don't mind if I do, after all Daniel and I still have to get to know each other," Vala answered with a cheeky smile at Daniel.

Daniel could only blink as Jack led them out of the cell. He muttered a groan as he caught their conversation.

"That's Carter and Teal'c, we'll be glad to fill you in on old Danny boy as we head to the gate."

The only thought that passed through Daniel's mind as he trudged along after them was that his life was about to get either a lot more exciting or a lot more hectic.

"Hurry along darling," Vala's voice called back to him.

"Yeah darling, move it." Jack added sarcastically.

Sighing once more, he figured it be most likely the latter as he moved to catch up with the others.


	2. Marketplace

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternate Scenarios**

By acer-sigma

Disclaimers: See first chapter, it still stands.

**Marketplace**

Daniel found himself thoroughly enjoying himself as he explored the marketplace on P3X-1K9. The hustle and bustle of the traders as they attempted to sell their wares brought back memories of his early childhood. He could distinctly remember being amazed at all the sights and sounds that had assaulted him whenever his parents brought him to the local outdoor markets when they had been living in Egypt. He quickly shook himself out of his thoughts before his memories could return him to the last time he had seen his parents.

Moving swiftly from stall to stall, his eyes scanned the offered items with a practiced eye. From time to time he would pick up an item for a closer examination, even asking the shopkeeper a question or two before moving on. So far nothing of any real importance had turned up. On the bright side though, he had stumbled across a few items that would have made excellent gifts; that is if the air force didn't classify them as "Top Secret" as soon as he brought them through the gate he thought warily.

An item in the next stall caught his eye, and he moved to examine it.

* * *

Vala ducked in and out of stalls as she ran through the market. It was a standard market, like so many others she had come across on her travels. She found that, aside from taverns, they were an excellent source of information, particularly if one wanted to avoid any planets that had recently come under Goa'uld occupation. That had been her plan when she had gated to this planet; pick up some supplies and some information, and maybe a trinket or two. Running through the place like Sokar was after her was NOT part of the plan. 

Yet here she was ducking in and out of stalls in an effort to lose her two pursuers. At first she had no idea why they were after her, that is until one of them shouted out Qetesh. Some days it seemed as if she could never escape that bitch, she thought bitterly. More than once she wished that the Tok'ra hadn't disposed of the dammed snake. She'd give anything to have been able to deal with her herself. At the very least she could have gotten a nice belt out of the deal.

Shaken off her thoughts she finally lost sight of her pursuers as she continued to duck between stalls. Thinking to put more distance between herself and her pursuers she increased her speed. Taking one last look over her shoulder, she failed to see the man stepping out of the stall ahead of her. As a result she ploughed directly into him.

* * *

As Daniel stepped out of the stall he failed to notice the woman running towards him. As a result he was nearly knocked over as she collided with him. The raven-haired woman now in his arms was looking around frantically. 

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going," he began, "are you alr…" but was immediately cut off as she quickly pulled his head down into a searing kiss.

As she kissed the stranger, Vala surreptitiously manoeuvred it so that his back was facing the crowds. Once she was reasonably sure that the danger had passed she reluctantly broke the kiss. She couldn't conceal her grin at the closed eyed, slightly puckered look that was on the man's face.

It took a moment before Daniel could shake off the stupor that he had fallen into. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the wide grin adorning the dark-haired woman's face. It took a few more moments before he finally found his voice.

"Wha…what was that all about?" He demanded.

Vala only grinned wider at the man's outraged tone, so in contrast to the dopey look that still adorned his features. "It was a thank you of course! After all, it's not everyday that a woman gets saved from a nasty fall by," she looked at him up and down, "a handsome man." She ran her hand up and down his arm as she asked, "So what's your name stranger?"

"It's Daniel Jackson, and what do you mean it was a thank you?" He asked as he took a step back from the woman's forwardness.

"Well as I said," she began, but instantly stopped when she caught sight of a familiar figure over Daniel's shoulder. "Just a simple thank you," she concluded and turned to leave. At the last moment she turned around and gave Daniel a quick kiss before running off. "Ask for Vala Mal Doran the next time your around darling!" She yelled.

Daniel could only watch as Vala ran back into the waiting crowds.

* * *

A few minutes later Teal'c came across him. 

"DanielJackson, Colonel O'Neill sent me to locate you. He wishes me to inform you that it is time to return to Stargate Command," he stated. Noticing the look on Daniel's face, he asked, "Have you found something of interest?"

"You could say that Teal'c… it was definitely… interesting." Taking one last look at the crowd where Vala disappeared into; he turned and headed towards the gate. Maybe, just maybe he would ask around the next time he was here he thought to himself.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and looked at Daniel curiously before following after him.

* * *

A/N: Well my second alternate meeting has taken place. First off I'd like to thank all the folks who reviewed my last chapter. Not bad for a first attempt at fanfiction huh? Secondly, good job to all those of you who spotted the scenes that were reminiscent of Farscape. Finally, I've gotten a few requests to do a follow up on the first chapter, so I'm thinking of spinning it off into its own story. Just wondering if the rest of you would be interested if I did that. 


	3. Nightmare

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternate Scenarios**

**Nightmare**

**By acer-sigma**

Disclaimers: Don't anything but this idea. Everything else belongs to people far wealthier than me.

Spoilers: None that I can think of, unless you've missed the whole ascension, in which case there is that implication for that.

A/N: Bit of a quick one. Kind of got the idea after reading Milena D's latest chapter of Misappropriation of Lives. Now on with the story.

She was huddled in the corner, her face buried in her knees as she clasped her hands over her ears. In the distance, the sound of Death-gliders could be heard as they continuously strafed the outer village. Directly outside, the angry shouts of men, and the cries of the women and children as they were dragged out by Jaffa. The cries stabbed directly into her soul despite her best efforts to shut out the sounds. A few minutes later, the sounds died of their own accord as they were replaced by the angry retort of staff weapons being fired.

As the last staff blast reverberated in her ears, the cycle would begin again. More villagers were dragged from their homes to face death, and no one was spared. As the sounds of death and destruction reached her, she huddled deeper into the corner. She was so distraught that she barely registered the sound of the door being swung open, or of the sound of footsteps as they came towards, and finally stopped in front, of her.

A duel mono-toned voice suddenly cut through the silence that had fallen upon the room.

"There you are my sweet!" The figure exclaimed. "Listen, can you hear them? Just listen to them pathetically crying out for mercy, you and I both know, they shall receive none! And do you know why? It's because, my dear sweet one, we have none to give!" The figure answered its own question with a chuckle. "Now look at me!" The figure demanded.

As she looked up at the familiar figure before her, Vala Mal Doran let out a bone-chilling scream as the eyes on the duplicate before her flashed gold.

"Oh don't be like this," the figure began, "you know its true. You're just as ruthless and cruel as I am! Why else do you think I chose you to be by my side for the rest of eternity? We are the same, and all those who would oppose us will die by your hands, just as they have always." The voice finished.

As the memory of all those who had died by her hands flashed through her mind, a quite gentle voice broke through her reverie.

"It's not true you know. Your nothing like her!"

Looking to her side, Vala suddenly noticed a figure kneeling next to her. She absentmindedly noted that the robes the figure wore were similar to those worn by many on arid desert planets, but what caught her eyes were the pair of steel blue eyes staring back at her. They held a look of compassion and understanding in them. She felt as if she knew him, and that he knew everything about her, but her gaze was quickly torn away by Qetesh.

"Don't listen to him, you know its true! We've been as one for over a decade now. Your hands are stained with the blood of all those who have opposed us. And oh how sweet that blood has been!" She finished with a smile.

"All the Goa'uld do is lie. You had no control over your body's actions. There is no blood on your hands. You're as much a victim as everyone else, if not more so. The one that's responsible for all the death and destruction is not you! It was that parasitic bitch that was within you!" He finished with a wave at Qetesh.

Vala was confused as the two figures argued. She wanted to believe the robed figure, but yet she couldn't help but feel that she could have done something, fought harder, done anything to stop Qetesh.

As if sensing her thoughts Qetesh turned her attention back to her. "Yes that's right, you did nothing to stop us as we conquered and subjugated whole worlds. Oh you rallied some pitiful resistance when we tortured and killed, but you just weren't strong enough, you were weak! Only together with me were you ever powerful, and you enjoyed it!"

Vala began to withdraw further within herself as she began to try and huddle deeper into the corner.

"No!" The figure grabbed hold of Vala, "Vala listen to me, and I know you don't know me, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?"

She didn't know why, but something about him, something in his eyes made her want to trust him. After a long agonizing moment she nodded her head and simply said, "Yes."

"Good," the figure sighed in relief, "now listen to me, none of this is real! Qetesh is long gone; you're losing yourself to your past." As she begun to shake her head in denial he pressed on, "you fought her with everything you had, and what's more, once you were free you fought to rebuild your life. You don't need to be afraid of what she is or what she represents!" He concluded pointing at the representation of Qetesh.

"She may have fought, but she was far too weak. You should have heard her cry at the things I forced her to do. It was such sweet music." Qetesh mocked.

"And yet, she's still here while your long gone," the figure shot back. Turning back to Vala, he pressed forward, "Do you know what I see when I look at you?" Receiving no answer he replied, "what I see is a strong vibrant woman, who has the fortitude and courage to reclaim her life, to not be haunted by a past she had no control over. I see a woman who knows the true meaning of life, of knowing that life is short and that you have to live it to the fullest!"

At his words, Vala for the first time in years, felt that she could truly move on and put Qetesh where she firmly belonged. In the past, preferably chopped up, burned and six feet under. Her musings were cut short as Qetesh began to clap in amusement.

"Oh how touching," she mocked.

Reassured by the words from the stranger beside her, Vala surged to her feet and lunged at her "twin." Catching her off guard, she managed to strike her in the face, and as Qetesh fell, the illusion broke apart.

Vala suddenly found herself standing in an open clearing. Turning to survey her new surroundings she found that she was not alone. The figure from before was still with her.

She began to thank the figure, but he cut her off.

"You don't have to thank me, you already knew the truth, I simply pointed the path out to you."

She nodded her head as she thought over his reply. "Still, if you hadn't, I might have had to endure that misery for far longer than I would have liked! So thank you anyways!" She concluded with a bright smile.

"Well than Vala, your welcome," he returned with an equally bright smile.

"Wait a second, you know who I am, but who are you?"

"Just a friend, passing through. And now I really must get going before my absence is noticed. Goodbye Vala, pleasant dreams." And with that he began to fade away.

"Wait, will I ever see you again?" She called out, but he was already gone.

"Perhaps, you never know what's out there," a disembodied voice replied.

* * *

Vala slept, and for the first time in many years, her dreams were no longer haunted by the cries of the dead or by the sinister mocking of the Goa'uld that had violated her body for all those years. For the first time, she dreamt of a man with steel blue eyes and compassion in his voice. If she had awoken, she may have noticed the same man staring down at her, but she remained blissfully unaware.

* * *

Daniel Jackson sighed as he stared down at the raven-haired woman sleeping peacefully before him. As he stared at her, he couldn't help but wonder over his actions. He really didn't know this woman at all, yet for some reason her emotional distress had reached out to him, had reverberated to his very soul. He couldn't resist the call and was there in an instant. He could probably ask Oma to explain what drew him here, but then he mused, he'd probably get a cryptic message and a lecture about interfering in the mortal plane. Snorting he thought that it couldn't really be interfering when he just appeared in a dream, and that she'd probably forget about it in the morning. For some reason that thought brought forth a brief wave of sadness. It really was a shame he hadn't met her when he was living, he thought to himself, he could tell that it would have been an interesting meeting and possibly friendship. Still perhaps he could check in every once in a while to make sure she was all right. Quickly shaking off the thought he took one last look at Vala before beginning to fade away. As he was leaving, he quickly brushed a strand of hair from her face before he disappeared completely.

Had he of stayed a moment longer, he would have noticed the pleasant smile and the sigh of contentment that Vala released.


	4. Role Reversal

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternative Scenarios**

**Role Reversal **

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything associated with Stargate SG-1. The only thing I own is the plot of this story.

* * *

Daniel ran through the city streets wondering how he had let himself get talked into this mess. Or better yet he concluded, how had Jack allowed the Tok'ra, of all people, to talk him into this.

It was supposed to have been such an easy mission! All they had wanted him to do, was travel to P3X-1M5, make contact with a local informant and pick up an information packet concerning the emerging Lucian Alliance. Simple really, as there weren't even any Goa'uld involved; they were all too busy dealing with Anubis.

Unfortunately what was lacking in the initial briefing was that the Alliance was not simply a rising power block, but also happened to be a rising ruthless criminal organization. As such, they were not particularly inclined to people asking questions about them. About ten minutes after meeting his contact, the informant was dead and he was on the run.

The stargate, he found had been heavily guarded, leaving him no chance of gating off the planet. As such he was now heading towards the town's small spaceport in the hopes of securing transport off the planet. As he neared his destination, he spotted a tel'tak that looked like it was being prepped for flight. As he moved towards it, he could suddenly hear the heavy sound of Alliance boots closing in on him; risking a quick look over his shoulder he increased his speed as he noticed his pursuers closing the distance.

As luck would have it, he managed to squeeze himself through the ship's hatch just as it was sealing. A moment later he felt the ship lift off. Sighing in relief, Daniel suddenly groaned as he realised he would most likely have to deal with an irate pilot. Drawing his zat, he headed towards the flight deck.

* * *

Vala Mal Doran was happy, she had just managed to acquire a tel'tak right from under the noses of the Lucian Alliance without them even realising who had stolen their ship. In addition, the cargo hold still held several crates that she could probably sell later for a nice tidy little profit. Now all she had to do was make good her escape.

As she went about setting the coordinates to her next destination, a noise from the cargo bay suddenly caught her attention. Setting the ship on autopilot, she quickly rose, drew her zat'ni'katel and made her way towards the cargo bay. As she made her way across to the doors leading into the cargo bay, she pressed herself against the wall to steady herself. Taking a deep breath she slowly advanced into the room, sweeping her weapon from side to side as she did so.

Sticking her head pass a set of crates, Vala froze as the charged emitter of a zat'ni'katel was suddenly levelled to the side of her head.

* * *

Daniel took a deep breath, as he crouched behind one of the set of crates in the hold, as he heard the pilot make his way towards his position. Slowly letting out his breath, he waited for his opportunity to attack, and not for the first time that day he wished that his team were with him. As he waited, his opportunity came as a head slowly inched its way into his line of vision. He almost froze when he realised the dark hair belonged to a woman, but he pushed back his sudden anxiety, over robbing a woman, and brought his zat up to her temple. "Drop the zat and kick it over to the other side of the room," he commanded the figure before him.

"Zat?" Vala asked.

Daniel sighed as he heard the question, she was probably stalling, still it was Jack's fault for shorting the name. "The zat'ni'katel, just drop it," he emphasised with a wave of his free hand.

"Ah," Vala mumbled as she bent down to place the weapon down and to push it away. Having pushed the zat away, she slowly stood up and turned to face her attacker. He was slightly taller than her, with a few days worth of growth on his face and was dressed like a smuggler, yet her instincts told her otherwise. It was the eyes she told herself, his eyes didn't reflect the harsh cruelty that most members of the Alliance had. Taking a deep breath, she addressed him, "Alright handsome, I've dropped the 'zat'," she paused as she looked him up and down "is there anything else you'd like me to drop?" she added, with a seductive grin, in the hopes of throwing him off balance. She only grinned brighter as he shifted and a hint of red grew on his cheeks.

Daniel could feel the heat rising to his cheeks at the innuendo as he sputtered, "ah…no…look why don't you just get into the escape pod," he gestured with his head to the pods, "and I'll send you back to the planet."

Narrowing her eyes at the suggestion, Vala crossed her arms and glared at the man in front of her, totally ignoring the zat pointed at her, it was obvious to her now that he was not a member of the Lucian Alliance, "Oh so your just going to steal my ship and leave me to the tender mercies of a planet full of thugs?"

Daniel winced at the venom in her tone, "Actually I'm not stealing your ship, I'm just borrowing it, and I am letting you go!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, to a planet that is crawling with murderous thugs, and who knows what other kinds of depraved individuals are there," Vala replied with an intensifying glare. "And another thing, borrowing implies returning. Were you planning on returning it?"

Daniel fidgeted as he felt the heat rise to his cheeks again, "Well no, but…"

"Than you were steeling, not borrowing," Vala interrupted, "and believe me, I know the difference!" she stated with a sharp nod.

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Daniel once again gestured towards the escape pods. "All right, look I wont launch the pod, but I can't have you distracting me either," he explained, "and since I don't have anything to tie you up with, your going to have to stay in the pod." At the look she shot him, he quickly added, "I'll let you out once I get to a planet with the nearest stargate."

Vala just continued to stare at him as he kept pointing towards the escape pods, the thought of being trapped in an enclosed space for an unknown length of time did not sit well with her.

Daniel was beginning to be a bit put off by this woman and her constant staring. He was debating whether or not to simply zat her and drag her to one of the pods, when the expression on her face took on a sudden look of pleading. "You can't lock me in one of those things," she began, "my people were born to the stars, we need our freedom to roam and live," she continued passionately, "confinement tears at our very souls, if you lock me in one of those things, I'll die!" She finishes.

Daniel practically snorted in disbelief, but then he recalled that several nomadic tribes and cultures held similar beliefs. Great, well maybe I can just lock her in the hold, he thought to himself. "Alright look," he began with a sigh, "I can understand your culture's aversion to confinement and I'm…" he paused as he caught a glint in her eye. "Wait a second are you messing with me?" He demanded.

"Depends, is it working?" Vala asks in amusement over his indignation.

"That's it!" Daniel grunts in frustration, "I don't have time for this, just get in the pod!"

Vala begins moving towards the pods as Daniel falls in behind her. "Alright, if that's what you want, but I can assure you things would be much more pleasant if you'd stop insisting on locking me up." She states in a pleasant tone.

"No thanks, I think I prefer you locked up."

"Well than, don't say I didn't warn you." Before Daniel could reply to her veiled threat, Vala was already on the move as she took one step forward before pivoting back and kicking the zat from his grip.

Daniel ducked, as her fist suddenly came sailing towards him, he aimed a shot at her exposed side, but it was deflected as Vala stepped back and brought her arm in to intercept the blow. For his troubles, he ended up with a kick to the ribs, but he managed to stay upright. Daniel backed off for a second, and the two stood surveying each other for a few seconds before they both made a run for the zat lying a few feet from them.

Vala managed to grab the weapon first, but just as she was about to swing it around, Daniel came barrelling into her from behind. The zat went flying again, and the two ended up tangled up together. Taking advantage of Vala's momentary disorientation, Daniel quickly pins her down on the floor.

Cursing her luck at being pinned, Vala looks up and grins at Daniel's mussed features, "I told you it'd be more fun if I stayed out here with you," she states as she wiggles underneath him.

Flushing in embarrassment at what she was doing, he took a deep breath and asked, "Are you insa…" but was promptly head-butted.

As Daniel grabbed his head in pain, Vala shoved him aside and rolled to a kneeling position. She was about to launch another attack on Daniel when the ship suddenly lurched as if struck. Both Daniel and Vala quickly looked up at each and simultaneously shouted, "The Lucian's!"

They narrowed their eyes at each other as they each took in what the other said, but were quickly brought out of their stupor as another blow struck the ship. Quickly breaking eye contact, they both made to the flight deck, and Vala immediately went to take the controls.

Looking up from the scanners Daniel turns to stare at Vala, "It's an Al'Kesh! What the hell did you do to piss them off?"

"Me! All I did was borrow a little ship." Vala exclaimed.

"Borrow? Don't you mean steal? Or were you planning on returning it?" Daniel asked snidely.

"Oh don't get all high and mighty! Or did you forget that you were trying to steal this ship from me?"

Daniel ducked his head in embarrassment at the memory of what he had been planning to do. "Oh yeah…ah…sorry about that," he mumbled.

Throwing a quick glance over at Daniel, Vala asks, "Your not very good at this whole pirating thing are you?"

"Not my normal line of work…so no…so any ideas as to how to deal with our mutual friends?"

"Well we can't outrun them in hyperspace, so I guess that leaves us with one option." With that said, Vala dropped the ship into normal space and engaged the cloak as soon as they emerged from the hyperspace window.

"Nice idea, now all we have to do is sit here and wait for them to leave." Daniel remarks.

"Thank you, I do have my moments." Flashing him a quick smile, Vala moves to get up, "Keep an eye on our friends, while I see where exactly we are."

"Sure thing."

As Daniel moves to take her place, Vala goes to the scanners and activates a passive scan of the system they had entered. Meanwhile the Al'Kesh was conducting a standard sweep of the immediate area.

As the two wait for the Al'Kesh to leave, a shudder suddenly goes through the Tel'tak.

"O.K., this could be a problem," Vala utters, "the cloak just failed."

"Great," mumbles Daniel, "Any other ideas?" he asks as he puts the ship into evasive action, even as the Al'Kesh moves on their previous position.

"Yes…head to the second planet in the system." Vala replies after consulting the scanners. "And get out of that chair and let me fly!"

"Right" Quickly moving out of the pilot's seat, Daniel was about to change positions with Vala when she suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Daniel froze in place as Vala moved into the pilot's seat.

Glancing at Daniel's perplexed expression, "For luck," Vala replied simply, "believe me were going to need it."

"Luck…right…why not," Daniel mumbled as he moved to the other seat. "So why are we headed to the planet? The Al'Kesh will still be able to follow us."

Concentrating as she guided the ship into the atmosphere, Vala brought the ship low to the surface of the planet. "Well the planet's primordial, lots of ash and volcanic eruptions, should be enough to confuse their scanners…hopefully." Casting a glance at Daniel, "You may want to keep an eye out for anything that may explode in front of us!"

"Wonderful, so if we don't get shot down by the Al'Kesh, we may get shot down by the planet." Daniel muttered, "Have I told you you're an insane fruitcake?"

"Pet names will get you everywhere darling," She flashed him a seductive grin, "Now keep your eyes on the scanners, not that I don't enjoy your attention."

"I am looking at the scanners!" Daniel mumbles through clenched teeth. "And it looks like your plan isn't working, the Al'Kesh is closing on our position!" Even as the warning is uttered, weapons fire begins to track their ship."

"Can you find us someplace that's about to spew out fire?"

"What…yeah looks to be about 20 kilometres at 3 degrees east." Daniel replies while staring at the instruments in front of him. "Why?"

"Oh just feeling a little bit cold darling, nothing to worry about. Hang on now." Vala suddenly angles the ship towards the direction Daniel indicated as well as lowering the ship closer to the molten surface.

Staring at the screen in shock, "Are you insane," he shouts, "what am I saying of course you are!"

Biting her bottom lip as she concentrated, Vala swings the ship left to right to avoid both the weapons fire and the minor eruptions occurring around them. "Trust me darling, I know what I'm doing."

"Famous last words," Daniel mumbles as he notices the Al'Kesh drop directly behind them.

"Perfect," Vala whispers as she too notices the ship directly behind them. Aiming the Tel'tak at the most volatile spot she could find.

"Uhm…"

"Trust me."

"Pull up…pull up."

"Just one more minute…and… now." As the Al'Kesh closed in, Vala suddenly pulled their ship up and aimed for space.

The pilot of the Al'Kesh attempted to follow, but failed to notice the eruptions taking place before him. His ship was suddenly engulfed in molten lava.

Blowing a tuff of hair out of her face, Vala turned to Daniel with a smile. "Told you everything would work out."

Daniel who was a few shades paler turned to look at her incredulously. At the sight of her beaming smile, he couldn't help but chuckle, "I guess you did at that. Sorry for doubting you, and sorry for hijacking you."

Waving off his apology, she turned back to the control panel. "It's alright, so where to now?"

"Going to give me a ride now, are you?" Daniel asked amused.

"You only had to ask darling, and it's either that or I go back to beating you up. Besides, after all the trouble you've given me, I figure you could at least talk your people into taking my cargo off my hands!" She replied simply.

"I'll see what I can do. Oh, and just for the record, you were not beating me up!"

"Whatever makes you happy darling!"

Daniel just sat back and shook his head at his companion's playful nature, when suddenly it hit him. He turned to face the woman beside him. "You know, I just realised I have no idea who you are."

"Well we can't have that now can we? Vala Mal Doran at your service." Vala replied with a smile, she than held out her hand.

Shaking her hand, and returning her smile, "Daniel Jackson."

"Well Daniel, I can tell that this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship," Vala beamed as she turned back to the controls.

Sighing Daniel just looked at her in exasperation, "Were not in a relationship Vala, friendship maybe, if that, but no relationship."

"But darling," Vala returned in amusement, "friendship is a form of relationship. Really you should get your mind out of the gutter." At Daniel's reddening face and sputtering indignation, Vala could only laugh. Yes she thought to herself, knowing Daniel was, definitely going to be fun.

* * *

**A/N: **Thought it'd be fun to have Daniel try to hijack Vala. Couldn't really figure out a way to deal with the Al'kesh, so I borrowed an idea from an episode of Andromeda. Hopefully this works out and you all enjoyed it. So please review and let me know how I did, and I'll try to hammer out another chapter out of the ideas I have driving me crazy. Also I stuck up two other stories ('Council Meeting', and A Path Less Traveled') while the site was screwy. So if you haven't checked them out, I'd appreciate it if you did. 


	5. Setup

**How Daniel and Vala Met: The Alternative Scenarios **

**Set-up **

**By acer-sigma**

* * *

**Disclaimers:** Same as the previous ones.

**Spoilers: **Takes place during the episode Window of Opportunities.

**A/N:** It occurred to me that during the time that O'Neill and Teal'c kept repeating the same ten hours over and over again, they must have taken off and gone off world at some point. I mean they used the stargate to play golf for crying out loud, so why not a little trip.

* * *

Pausing at the tavern doors, Teal'c turned to face Jack, "Are you sure that this course of action will have a greater degree of success then the last one O'Neill?"

"Trust me Teal'c, this time its bound to work!" Jack said enthusiastically.

"I believe you have said that on previous occasions as well O'Neill," Teal'c stated with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"Well yeah," Jack replied looking a bit miffed, "but now we know what to expect from them! Plus we know what doesn't work!"

"Indeed."

"Sides," Jack said with a grin, "he needs someone like her to drag him away from his gloomy office and dusty books. Plus she's quirky and she's got spunk. I like spunk! She'll definitely keep him on his toes."

"…."

"Come on Teal'c, you know I'm right. Besides didn't you tell me that you liked her too?"

"Indeed, I did O'Neill. However, I am still uncertain as to the wisdom of this endeavour."

"Trust me on this Teal'c. When have I ever been wrong?"

"…."

"O.K. that hurts!" Jack said with a wounded look. "Look, were bound to get it right sooner or later."

"Indeed."

"Good, glad were in agreement," Jack said with a smile, "now lets go, times a wasting!"

Walking past Teal'c, Jack pushed the doors to the tavern open and quickly walked in, Teal'c following close behind. Quickly scanning the room. "And there's our girl holding court. Come on Teal'c, let's get her prepped."

* * *

Trudging towards the small village, Daniel turned to Sam, "I can't believe they did this Sam. What the heck were they possibly thinking of?" 

"I don't know Daniel," she said with a shake of her head, "all the note said was that they were going out for a drink."

"Going out for a drink usually doesn't involve using the gate," Daniel said with a frown, "you think they may be under some sort of influence?"

"Could be, can't really say for sure. According to Janet, they both checked out find after the last mission. Plus there's nothing wrong with us…"

"Yet."

"Now there's a nice thought!" Sam replied with a grimace, " let's just be glad that they didn't lock us up for observation and send someone else after them."

"Good point! General Hammond looked ready to send the MP's after them."

"And he still will, if we don't find them and drag them back. The Colonel better have a good explanation ready."

"Knowing Jack, it'd probably be an interesting one," Daniel said as he scanned the village before them. Seeing a sign in the distance, he pointed it out to Sam, "look's like we'll find out soon, that looks like the only tavern around."

"Right let's hurry than!" Sam said as they quicken their pace.

* * *

Jack smiled as he laid another winning hand down on the table and began to collect his winnings. 

"I swear," the woman across from him, said with a frown, "you have the strangest luck. First you manage to beat out everyone else until we're the only ones left. Then you start loosing badly, and now you're on a streak. If I didn't know better I'd say you were setting me up. It's like you know exactly what my hand is going to be!"

Grinning at the woman's frustration. "What can I say," Jack replied, "you just gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them," he said in a sing song voice. "Sides if I'd known what cards you have, do you think I'd have lost all those other hands?"

"I suppose you have a point. Still I get the feeling your up to something," she said with a suspicious look.

"Fine don't believe me! Just look at Teal'c over here," he gestured next to him, "does that look like the face of someone whose untrustworthy and up to no good?"

"Well the mark of Apophis doesn't help," she stated sarcastically, which only made Jack grin wider, as she glanced at Teal'c's serene expression, "still, I suppose Muscles here doesn't look like the type who'd do anything dishonourable," she concluded, to which Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"Good, since we've got that settled, it's your deal." Glancing at the time on his watch, he asked, "T and I are gonna have to go after this last game, so what do you say we make this interesting?"

"Oh," she said suspiciously, "just what have you got in mind?"

"Well you see…."

* * *

"Any sign of them Sam?" Daniel asked as they entered the tavern. 

Peering into the poorly lit room, Sam scanned the room for any sign of their wayward commander and his Jaffa sidekick. "There they are," she said pointing towards a corner table.

Glancing in the direction Sam had pointed out, Daniel could just make out Jack and Teal'c through the crowd sitting at a table with an attractive raven-haired woman. Frowning he turned back to Sam, "You think she's the reason for their sudden need to come here," he asked gesturing at the tavern.

"I don't think so. She doesn't look like anyone we've ever met does she?"

"No she doesn't." I think I'd remember he thought to himself. "And it doesn't look like anything weird is going on. In fact it looks like their playing cards."

"Well Daniel, only one way to find out what's going on." She said as she started to move towards the table. Pausing she looked back over her shoulder, "just in case though, be ready for trouble."

"Right."

As they made their way over the to the table, they could make out the intense concentration on the woman's face as she put down a card and drew another one before throwing more coins onto the table. Jack quickly followed, as Teal'c watched on in amusement.

"Jack," "Colonel," Sam and Daniel, said simultaneously as they came up to the table.

"Oh hey guys," Jack responded without even looking up, while Teal'c inclined his head in greeting. The woman flashed them a grin as she looked up at them, her gaze lingering on Daniel a second longer before returning to the cards in her hand.

"Hey guys?" Daniel asked, "Is that all you have to say? What the hell are you guys doing?"

"What does it look like? Were playing cards," Jack stated calmly, "now please be quite, there's quite a bit riding on this hand."

"Colonel…"

Barely looking up, he tossed out a few coins. "In a sec Carter!"

"Jack, this is serious!"

"So's this! Right Teal'c?"

"Indeed."

"Come on…Hammond's pissed, we've got to go."

"Almost finished here Danny boy."

Sighing in frustration, Daniel glanced at Sam, who just shrugged her shoulders before sitting down to watch. A few moments later Jack threw his cards down in disgust as the woman he was playing gleefully pulled her winnings towards her.

"Well that was fun," Jack said with a grin, "oh where are my manners," he said as he glanced at Daniel and Sam. "Vala, this here is Carter and Daniel," he gestured to each, "Daniel, Carter the card shark here is Vala."

"Nice to meet you Vala," Sam said pleasantly, "and it's Sam."

"Nice to meet you too Sam," Vala said with a smile. She than turned to look Daniel over, and her smile grew. Turning to Jack, "So this is my Daniel than?"

"Jack…" Daniel asked as his friend smiled, "what does she mean her Daniel?"

"Well…you see Daniel… I lost you in a bet."

"You what!"

"Colonel."

"Hey I thought I had a good hand," he said unremorsefully.

"So you bet me!!"

"I didn't think you'd mind."

"Well you thought wrong! Are you out of your mind? Why didn't you stop him Teal'c?" Daniel sputtered.

"Oh don't be like that darling, Jack here meant well," Vala said as she sided up next to Daniel. "Let's go get everyone some drinks," she said as she dragged Daniel to the bar.

"Jack…!"

"Have fun Daniel." Jack said as he shared a grin with Teal'c.

"Colonel…" Sam began.

"Relax Carter, every things fine. Were just messing with him. We'll let him in on the joke once he gets back. Sides don't you think they look good together?"

"If you say so sir," Sam said as she looked over towards Daniel and Vala. She couldn't help the grin as she watched their antics.

"I'll get you for this Jack!" Daniel's voice could be heard over the din, "hey watch your hands!"

"You know Teal'c," Jack said in amusement, "we've really got to find her if we ever get out of this time loop thing!"

"Indeed."

* * *

**A/N2:** I know the whole idea of Jack and Teal'c playing matchmaker just seems weird. But than again they did a lot of weird stuff when they were stuck in that time loop. So why not this. Anyways enjoy, and please review. 


	6. Fedup Ancients

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternate Scenarios**

**Fed Up Ancients**

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything Stargate related, except for the idea presented in this story.

**Spoilers: **Ideas inspired by Season eights "Threads." So there are going to be some minor spoilers.

**A/N:** Sorry its been a while, but work got in the way of creativity. This one's a bit short but hope you enjoy it. And again please review and let me know what you think.

* * *

The old fifties style diner was nearly deserted at this time of day, save for a few patrons scattered about the place. Most appeared to be minding their own business, quietly finishing their meals, save for the two individuals engaged in conversation at the counter.

"Damn this coffee is awful," the older male said as he grimaced in distaste, "where the hell did that girl learn to make this swill?"

"She's new at this job Moros," his companion said, as he gestured to the waitress slouched over the counter flipping through a magazine, "it'll take time for her to get use to doing this. I'm sure in no time at all you'll learn to love her coffee!"

"I don't want to love her coffee! I liked Oma's coffee!"

"Yes well," the younger man rolled his eyes and sighed at his friend's behaviour, "she's a little too busy these days to be making you coffee. Or have you forgotten about her little battle with Anubis for the rest of eternity?"

"No I haven't forgotten about that!" He said with a glare, "Nor have I forgotten that the reason she's stuck in that situation is because of that annoying human!"

"Now you know that isn't exactly true." The younger man said as he took a sip of his coffee and grimacing. "Daniel Jackson may have talked her into dealing with Anubis, but ultimately Oma was responsible for his ascension and his subsequent status trapped between the two planes."

"Perhaps," Moros conceded, "however, she was already serving her punishment for her actions, or should I say continued actions," he said with a shake of his head. "As for Anubis, the mortals appeared to be dealing with him quite well on their own without any interference from us!"

"Be that as it may, what's done is done. Oma and Anubis are no longer our concern for the time being. Daniel Jackson however is."

"…."

"What has the Council decided to do about him?"

"The man is a fool!" He spat, "he wishes to return to the lesser realm once more."

"I take it the Council has no objections?"

"Of course not Torin. You remember how he was the last time he was here!"

"Well it certainly wasn't quiet," Torin responded in amusement, "he certainly asked a lot of questions."

"Yes too many questions! The Council wasn't exactly pleased with his occasional interference with the mortal realm either."

"So if the Council has no objections, what's the problem then? Why not just send him on his merry way?"

"The problem is that the Council wishes to impress upon him the seriousness of ascension, that it is not a, how do the earthlings put it, ah yes, a get out of jail free card every time he is near death. Quite frankly, we don't want to see him here anymore!"

"I see what you mean," Torin responded with a nod of his head, "but both times he was assisted by Oma. That will no longer be the case."

"Yes but, there is the possibility of him achieving it himself, not to mention he has friends amongst those that Oma has assisted."

"So we keep an eye on them, and erase his memories again."

"It's not that easy. Look at Oma, and as for the memory erasure, it didn't really help the last time. Besides the Council wishes for him to remember what happened to Oma because of his actions."

"So what than? A partial erasure?"

"Yes. The Council is also looking for suggestions to keeping him out of here. His friends have certainly failed in that task. I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

Torin considered the question before suddenly looking up and reaching for the newspaper beside him. "You know I think I do. What Jackson needs is someone who will either hover constantly over him to keep him out of trouble, or to keep him so busy that he wont do something stupid right?"

"Exactly."

"Well than, how about her!" Torin pointed to the front-page headline that read, _**Femme Fatale Outfoxes System Lords: Escapes with Data Crystals**._

Looking at his friend as if he was completely out of his mind. "This is your grand idea? To pair him up with her," he sputtered. "We'll more than likely end up with both of them!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Torin passed the paper to his friend, "just read what it says about her. Besides Janis did a little checking up on Jackson's personal time stream the last time he was here. Apparently the two are already connected, and from what he said, they'll be busy keeping each other out of trouble. Or at the very least I got the impression that they would look out for each other."

Half listening, Moros scanned the paper, smiling as he read over the woman's profile, "You may be right. At the very least she'll drive him as crazy as he drove us! I'll bring it up with the Council."

"You do that," Torin said with a smile, "so any ideas as to how to assign her to him?"

"Oh I have an idea…." Torin could only look on in confusion as his friend grinned and broke out into laughter.

* * *

Vala Mal Doran had no idea why she was currently trudging through the barren fields of Malis. It wasn't a very nice planet, and definitely wasn't on her top ten list of places to be, though it did come close to the list of places she didn't want to be. For some particular odd reason she had felt the urge to land her cargo ship and to stretch her legs. Deciding that she had had enough of the dismal sights, she turned and began to walk back towards her ship.

Suddenly a flash of light momentarily blinded her. As she blinked the spots out of her eyes, she heard a groan. Carefully turning in the direction of the sound, her hand settled onto her zat in anticipation of danger, what she saw however stopped her frozen in her tracks, and had her almost blushing.

The naked form on the ground in front of her groaned again as he shook his head and attempted to stand up, much to her amusement. Malis, she thought to herself with a grin, was fast becoming one of her favourite places.

* * *

Daniel shook his head to clear the disorientation when he suddenly felt someone watching him. Looking up he caught sight of a raven-haired woman with a scandalous grin on her face as she tilted her head from side to side as she looked at him. He simply looked at her in confusion before realising how cold he was.

He suddenly flushed in embarrassment and attempted to cover up his modesty as he silently cursed the Ancients and their stupid sense of humour and wondered why they insisted on leaving him in the middle of nowhere naked.

His musings were abruptly interrupted by an amused voice, "Why hello handsome," Vala said with a grin as she looked him up and down, "if I had known there would be this kind of reception, I would have come to this planet ages ago!"

"Oh boy," he muttered to himself as he hung his head in embarrassment. As he continued to recite a list curses in his mind, he could swear he heard laughter.


	7. Fedup Ancients2

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternative Scenarios**

**Fed-up Ancients Part II**

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimers: **Don't own anything Stargate related, just borrowing the whole concept.

**A/N:** Figured I'd stick up a quick follow-up to the last chapter for fun.

* * *

"Unscheduled off-world activation," Sergeant Walter Harriman's voice announced as the alarms sounded throughout the base.

General Jack O'Neill strode into the control room, with the remaining members of SG-1, as heavily armed troops took up positions within the gate room. "What have we got Walter?"

"Unknown sir," Walter said as he consulted his monitors," wait a minute, were receiving a transmission! Sir, its Dr. Jackson!"

"Yes! I told you guys he'd be back," Jack exclaimed to Carter and Teal'c. "Open the iris and give him the all clear," Jack said as he began to head towards the gate room, with SG-1 following close behind.

As they entered the gate room, the wormhole rippled as Daniel stepped through. At the sight of their friend they stopped in their tracks and stared in disbelief. A moment later they were shaken out of their reverie as a dark haired woman stepped out of the gate behind Daniel.

"It's alright," Daniel exclaimed, as weapons were immediately raised upon Vala's entrance, "she's with me!"

"Not very friendly are they," Vala whispered to Daniel as he stepped in front of her.

"Everybody stand down!" Jack ordered as he moved to the foot of the gate, Teal'c and Carter flanking him. "Daniel."

"Jack."

"Thought you were dead."

"I got better."

"Pulled the glowing squid thing again?"

"You could say that."

"Whatever works huh," Jack said with a smile.

"Pretty much." Daniel replied with a grin.

"So Daniel, who's your lady friend," Jack gestured to the woman watching the two men interact.

"That's Vala, she's the one who found me after the incident," he said with slight annoyance. "Vala, that's Jack the commander of the base, and next to him are Sam and Teal'c."

"Hello," Vala said with a wave and a grin.

"Hi," Jack greeted as the others nodded, "thanks for bringing Danny back!"

"Oh believe me it was a pleasure!" Vala grinned in glee.

Jack cocked an eyebrow at the woman's exuberance before turning his attention back to Daniel, "O.K. now that we know who your friend is, here comes the interesting question." Pausing Jack took one more quick look at the duo before him, "Daniel what the hell are you wearing?" Jack asked as he gestured to the tight shirt and even tighter leather pants that his friend was wearing.

"Oh, ah…well you see my other clothes weren't in very good condition, and Vala," he looked at her pleadingly, "here was kind enough to find me something else to wear," he said as his mind flashed back.

**Flashback**

Daniel shook his head to clear the disorientation when he suddenly felt someone watching him. Looking up he caught sight of a raven-haired woman with a scandalous grin on her face as she tilted her head from side to side as she looked at him. He simply looked at her in confusion before realizing how cold he was.

He suddenly flushed in embarrassment and attempted to cover up his modesty as he silently cursed the Ancients and their stupid sense of humor and wondered why they insisted on leaving him in the middle of nowhere naked.

His musings were abruptly interrupted by an amused voice, "Why hello handsome," Vala said with a grin as she looked him up and down, "if I had known there would be this kind of reception, I would have come to this planet ages ago!"

"Oh boy," he muttered to himself as he hung his head in embarrassment. As he continued to recite a list curses in his mind, he could swear he heard laughter.

Realizing he still had an audience, he shot the woman a glare as she continued to stare at him in obvious amusement. "Could you please turn around?"

"Why would I do that," she asked innocently.

"Why? Because I'm naked isn't it obvious?" He said in exasperation.

"Yes, it is quite obvious," she said with a smirk, "I still don't see why you want me to look away. Believe me darling," she said as she looked him up and down with a grin, "you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!"

Daniel, if possible felt his cheeks flush even more as the woman raked him over with her eyes. "Look, its just common decency!"

"Well it's also common decency not to go running around nude unless you wanted someone to see you." Vala replied logically.

"Well, this wasn't my idea," he ground out, "so please turn around or something. Look if things were the other way around, I wouldn't look." He reasoned.

"Well first off, I really must thank whoever deposited you here! It so made my day," Vala said as she tapped her chin, "secondly, you so would too look if I were the one naked!" She exclaimed.

"What! I would not!"

"Oh yes you would darling and you know it! So don't deny it!"

Daniel simply shot her his most menacing glare, or at least he tried to. Considering his situation it didn't exactly appear to work as Vala's grin grew larger.

"You know you look quite cute when your brows furrow up like that," Vala said as she used her fingers to imitate said look. "Oh fine be that way," she said as Daniel continued to glare at her. "Here," she said simply as she shrugged out of her knee length jacket and threw it to him.

"Thanks," Daniel said begrudgingly as he did his best to wrap the jacket around his waist. "I don't suppose you could point me to the stargate now could you?"

'Nope, sorry, I'm afraid there's no stargate on this planet."

"Great, what the hell am I suppose to do now!" Daniel shouted into the air.

"Well you could stop shouting for one thing!" Vala exclaimed as she rubbed her ears. "As for your question, I have a ship, so I suppose I could take you with me to the nearest stargate."

"Thanks…I'd appreciate it," Daniel said sheepishly, "I don't know how I can repay you for that."

"No need, after all I did enjoy the show," she said with a seductive grin that caused Daniel to blush once again. "Still if you insist on repaying me…" she let the sentence drop off, and her grin grew even wider as his blush grew brighter, "Come along now darling," she said as she began to walk back to her ship, "we'll try to find you some clothes, unless of course you enjoy running around like that, because I certainly don't mind!"

"Why me," Daniel muttered to himself. He suddenly looked around as he could swear he heard laughter around him, "great now I'm imagining things."

"You know darling," Vala's voice called back to him, "if you're going to flash a girl, you should at least tell her your name!"

"Its Daniel and I did not flash you!"

"Whatever you say Daniel," she said as she flashed him a grin over her shoulder. 'And you can call me Vala. Now hurry up." She told him as she waited for him to catch up and pull slightly ahead of her.

**End Flashback:**

"Oh, ah…well you see my other clothes weren't in very good condition, and Vala," he looked at her pleadingly, "here was kind enough to find me something else to wear," he said as his mind flashed back.

Reading between the lines, Jack smirked as he recalled what he was told of Daniel's last return from ascension. "They left you stranded buck naked for her to find didn't they?"

Daniel groaned as Jack's smirk grew, and as he caught sight of the amused looks on his teammate's faces. It grew worse when Vala piped in.

"You should have seen him in all his glory!"

"No," Jack chimed in, "I really shouldn't of! I would however love to hear the story. So lets go get comfortable gang, Vala here can tell us all about how she met Daniel!"

"That's really not necessary Jack!"

"Oh yes it is!' Jack replied as he threw an arm around Vala's shoulder and led her and the rest of SG-1 to the briefing room.

Daniel could only hang his head as he followed them, he groaned as he overheard Jack telling Vala not to leave out any of the embarrassing details. As he entered the briefing room, he suddenly heard laughter again, and despite the amusement of SG-1 he was pretty sure it wasn't coming from them. Suddenly he got the sneaking suspicion that the Ancients were not only laughing at him but had been responsible for his meeting with Vala. If that were the case, and knowing Jack the way he did, Vala might just be here to stay, he though to himself.

"Daniel," Jack called, "hurry up, were all waiting for your debriefing!" He said with a grin as he emphasized the last word.

Daniel merely groaned, as he caught the matching grins on Jack and Vala's faces. Oh yes, he thought, the Ancients were definitely out to get him.

* * *

**A/N2:** Well hoped you all enjoyed the supplement to the last chapter. I just couldn't get it out of my mind. Please feel free to review now! 


	8. Escape from Sokar

**How Daniel and Vala Met: Alternative Scenarios **

**Escape from Sokar**

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Stargate SG-1 or anything associated with it. I am simply borrowing the characters for my, and hopefully your amusement.

**Spoilers:** Possible spoilers for the episodes "Jolinar's Memories" and The Devil You Know."

**A/N: **My attempt to incorporate Vala into the two mentioned episodes. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Daniel chocked back the urge to cough as the door to the descent pod cracked open; the stench of sulphur quickly permeated the interior of the pod. Netu according to what the Tok'ra had told them was essentially hell on earth, or moon in this case, and for once their information was pretty accurate, Daniel thought, as he glanced outside of the pod that he was currently occupying. What he saw was definitely not a pretty site. The scorched surface was pockmarked with craters and crevices from which gases escaped from the earth. He could even see a trail of lava off in the distance. And as if the combined smell of sulphur and smoke weren't enough to make him gag, the wind suddenly picked up, and he had to suddenly duck his head to avoid the sand being flung into his face. Thinking quickly, Daniel retrieved a bandana from his pocket and tied it around his mouth and nose before venturing out of the pod. 

Glancing around the immediate area, there were no signs of SG-1, or anyone else for that matter. "Jack…Sam…Martouf…hello anybody out there?" Daniel shouted in the hopes that they had landed nearby. "Jack…Sam…Come on guys, this isn't funny! Where are you?"

"Wonderful, this is just great," Daniel mumbled to himself. The pods were supposed to have landed them relatively close to one another. Obviously that wasn't the case. He could only hope that the others had made it through together. In which case they would either be looking for him or be making their way to wherever Jacob was being held. And given the situation, chances are it would probably be the latter, with them counting on him to meet up with them.

Sighing, Daniel pondered the situation he was in. Off in the distance he could just make out the faint outlines of a devastated city. According to Martouf, Tok'ra intelligence believes that the majority of Sokar's prisoners are living somewhere around the ruins of Netu's old colony. As such, that would be the most likely destination of the others.

Resisting the urge to take a deep breath of the foul air, Daniel checked his sidearm and began to walk in the direction of the city. As he concentrated on the path before him, he failed to notice the hooded figure turning away from the cliff above him.

* * *

Daniel barely held back a hacking cough as he silently cursed in the many languages that he knew in an effort to pass the time as he trudged through the wasteland surrounding him. It was just his luck to get a malfunctioning descent pod, he thought to himself. A pod that landed, who knows how far away from the rest of the team, on a Goa'uld's twisted interpretation of Dante's Inferno. 

It was actually a pretty good interpretation, Daniel thought to himself; he made a mental note to research the origins of the underworld and compare them to Sokar's recreation of it. Perhaps he could even cross-reference them with interpretations taken from Asgard based religions.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A rough voice asked, breaking Daniel out of his thoughts.

"O.K., this can't be good," Daniel murmured to himself as he caught sight of the three men, brandishing crude weapons that surrounded him. Jack was going to kill him for not paying attention to his surroundings, that is if these guys didn't do it for him, he thought to himself.

"Ah, hi guys," he said smiling as his eyes shifted back and forth looking for a way out, "I'm new around here, and I don't want any trouble." He took a step back as the three men moved closer towards him.

"Well that's too bad," the largest one said, "cause we got a special welcome for new comers. Don't we boys?" He asked his two companions, who nodded enthusiastically with wide grins.

I really don't want to deal with this, Daniel thought to himself as he quickly drew his sidearm from underneath his shirt. "Look, just back off," he stated with a gesture from the gun, "and no one will get hurt."

The three looked at each other in silent communication, before turning back towards Daniel. Daniel tensed up as they encircled him. He quickly swung his weapon back and forth between the three trying to determine in which direction the attack would come from.

Hearing movement behind him, Daniel quickly swung around and fired off a round. His target staggered from the shot, but still surged forward. Daniel made to fire off another round, but the weapon was knocked out of his hand as a club, from one of his other attackers, collided with his hand. Before he could react, they were upon him.

He could barely react as the blows rained down on him. He attempted to fight back, but every time he swung at an opponent the others would exploit his openings. A sharp blow to the back of his knees had him knocked to the ground, and still they continued to send blow after blow towards him. His last conscious thought, as one of the men raised his club over him, was that Jack was going to be pissed off at him. As darkness began to take hold of his senses he could just make out a crude staff joining the club.

* * *

Daniel jolted awake, and flinched as pain coursed through his body. "Still alive," he said to himself, "talk about a bad dream." Laying his head back down, he suddenly realised that his head was not resting on an infirmary pillow and that the fuzzy ceiling belonged to a cave, and not the SGC's infirmary. "Great," he said to himself, "not a dream, it's a nightmare!" 

Looking around, Daniel attempted to assess his situation. He was bandaged up and, disturbingly, also naked underneath a rough blanket. The last thing he remembered clearly was a pair of crude weapons coming towards him, and then nothing. Hopefully, he thought, the others had found him and fixed him up, otherwise he did not want to know why his tormentors would leave him lying around naked. "Come to think of it," he said to himself, "I don't want to know why the team would want to take my pants either." In any event there was no one else present that he could see. So the question was where was he, and who had him. Lost in thought, Daniel failed to notice the figure observing him from the shadows.

* * *

He was finally awake, she thought to herself, and it was about time. He was extremely lucky that she had spotted his pod coming down near the out skirts of the settlement and had decided to investigate to see if there was anything worth salvaging. He was even luckier that she had decided to intervene when he was getting his ass kicked by those thugs. But then again, she thought, she hardly had a choice, especially when it was revealed that he had a working weapon. 

He had a weapon, and not something that had been cobbled together from scraps either, but a real weapon. Only Bynarr and Na'onak possessed real weapons. That alone proved that he was no ordinary prisoner; that and he didn't exactly seem to fit the 'type' that Sokar usually sent to Netu. Than again, she thought darkly, Sokar wasn't exactly picky, if an individual wronged him in some insignificant way they got sent to Netu. Still that wouldn't explain why he was armed.

Her gaze fell upon his weapon that she held, she couldn't afford to let such an advantage escape her, and yet she couldn't just leave him to the inhabitants of this planet either. Something had tugged on her conscience to help him. And if there was one thing that she had learned over the years, it was to trust her instincts. So now, here she was, having wrapped his wounds, she sat in the shadows trying to figure out who he was and why he was here. Perhaps, she thought as she watched him examine his surroundings, now that he was awake, she could finally get some answers. Moving forward, she deliberately made a sound to signal her approach.

* * *

A sudden sound brought Daniel out of his contemplations and he looked around for its source. From the corner of the cave, a lithe figure stepped out of the shadows. 

"Your finally awake," a female voice stated, "it's about time too."

Sitting up as the woman approached, Daniel winched as his side protested.

"Better not move around too much, your friends gave you quite the welcoming."

"Thanks for the warning," he replied, "ah what exactly happened and where am I?"

"You are in my lovely little home," she said sarcastically. "And what happened, is that I managed to keep the boys from killing you. Oh, I'm Vala by the way."

"Daniel, and thanks, I really appreciate it."

"Your welcome."

"Ah, not to be ungrateful or anything…but why am I naked?"

"Why not?" She asked as she cast him an appreciative glance. She smirked when he reacted by pulling the blanket up higher and shooting her a glare. "Oh alright, if your going to make that kind of face." She stated as he intensified his glare, "The reason I took your clothes was so that I could examine you…."

"What!"

"Well you were injured Darling, I had to make sure you were properly taken care of!"

"Yes well…did you really have to take all my clothes? And you could have at least left them within reach!"

"As I said," Vala began in an amused tone, "I had to make sure you were perfectly 'fine,'" she stated with a seductive tone, "as for the other thing, I couldn't have you running off before I had a chance to talk to you. And since you didn't look like the kind of guy to go running out of here naked, I figured I'd hang on to your clothes, of course if I'm wrong, please feel free to get up and leave," she gestured further down the cave.

"Can I have my clothes back first?"

"Not until you answer my questions."

"Look, I really don't feel comfortable talking to you without any…" he paused as he noticed her tugging at her ripped t-shirt. "Ah…what are you doing?"

Pausing, she glanced at him, "trying to make you more comfortable, since your obviously uncomfortable with only one of us dressed…."

"No, no that's fine, keep your clothes on…please," he stuttered as his cheeks reddened, "just, ah, ask your questions."

"Well your no fun at all," Vala replied as she straightened her shirt. "Alright then if you insist. Who exactly are you?"

"I told you already," he said frowning in confusion, "my name's Daniel Jackson!"

"Yes Darling we've already established that! But just who is Daniel Jackson?"

"Well…I'm an archaeologist if that's what you mean."

Rolling her eyes, Vala took up a defiant stance as she glared at Daniel, "That's not what I meant! I'm not too sure what an archaeologist is, but I'm sure that it doesn't involve this," she reached behind her, pulled out his gun and pointed it at him, "now does it?"

Daniel sat up straighter as he looked down the barrel of his own gun. "Ah…that…I don't suppose you'd take my word for it if I told you I found it?"

Tilting her head in consideration, Vala appeared to be thinking over the question. Daniel was about to interrupt her, when she suddenly straightened up. "Considering I saw your pod come down, and your little fight…no. Besides, this little thing," she waved the gun about before once again pointing it at Daniel, "is rather high quality, not something you'd find lying around here!"

Damn she had him there, he thought to himself, "well, I snuck it in alright," he uttered, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes I know you snuck it in," Vala replied sarcastically, "that much was obvious. The question however, still remains, who are you exactly? I suppose you could be," she started to count the fingers on one hand, " a prisoner who managed to sneak in a firearm, an agent of Sokar, or an independent after something or someone. So which is it?"

"Ah…"

"Oh yes," Vala interrupted as she reached into a pouch at her side, "before you continue, I should let you know that I found this in your pants," she said with a knowing smile.

Daniel's eyes widen as he sees the Tok'ra transmitter in her hand. "Well you see…"

"And before you try to lie," Vala interrupts once again as she sees Daniel trying to come up with an explanation, "I do recognise it as Tok'ra technology, and I will be very cross if you try to tell me other wise!" she waved the gun around in emphasis.

Daniel sighed; she was sharp despite the somewhat flirty attitude. He weighed his choices, for some reason he felt he could trust her, "maybe because she saved you," he said to himself.

Taking a deep breath he looked up at Vala, "Alright, I'll be honest with you, because for some odd reason, I feel I can trust you. That and the fact that you have a gun pointed at me," he joked, "the truth is," he continued when he saw Vala quirk her lips in a smile, "my friends and I came here to rescue someone."

"Well your either very brave or very stupid!" Vala exclaimed as she lowered the weapon.

"Yeah well," Daniel scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "sometimes were not very sure ourselves."

"So who are you looking for, maybe I can help…for a price," Vala said grinning.

"Let me guess, you want to come with us when we leave." Vala simply shot him a look that said, 'duh, what are you an idiot or something.' "Fine, you can come with us," Daniel paused and smiled as Vala practically danced on the spot, "were looking for an ally of ours, a Tok'ra named Selmak and her host Jacob!"

"You're here for a Tok'ra!" Vala practically spat.

"Yes…" Daniel replied carefully, "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No," Vala said as she sat down, "I'm just not particularly fond of them!"

"Fair enough I guess. So any idea where he and my friends may be?"

"As a matter of fact Darling…yes." Vala said simply as she gazed at Daniel.

"Well?" Daniel asked impatiently.

"So impatient," she mutters, "The Tok'ra will more than likely be in the pit. As for your friends, Apophis recently captured outsiders…"

"Apophis!" Daniel interrupted in shock.

"I take it you've heard of him?"

"You could say that," he said bitterly, "I lost my wife because of him."

"I'm sorry," Vala said sincerely.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

They sat in silence, Vala was unsure how to broach the silence while Daniel simply stared out into space.

"Daniel?" Vala finally broached, "your friends…"

"Wha…oh yeah…any idea where they might be?" Daniel asked as he turned his gaze to Vala.

Vala nodded as she turned to retrieve Daniel's clothes, "Most likely in the pit. But Apophis is making a power play against Sokar, so it's possible he may be questioning one or more of them in his throne room."

"Then I guess we'd better hurry," Daniel concluded as Vala gave him his clothes. He began to shrug them on when he paused, "Ah, can you turn around please," he asked as he gestured with a finger.

Vala shot him an amused look, "Why? It's not like I haven't seen everything already!"

Daniel felt the heat rush to his cheeks at her frank admission. "Ah…"

"Oh fine," she laughed, "be a spoilsport," she said as she turned around to face a wall. She bit her lip, at the sound of fabric that immediately filled the cave, and fought the urge to catch another peek, knowing that it would thoroughly annoy and embarrass Daniel.

"O.K. I'm ready," Daniel said as he straightened up, "any suggestions on where to head to first?"

Vala nodded as she turned and handed over his gun and transmitter "the pit," she said simply, "your friends are likely under guard there. So we'll just have to go get them."

"So we'll have to overpower the guards and bust them out…sounds simple enough," he said sarcastically.

"No need to worry Darling, I'm sure the guards will be reasonably distracted enough that we can deal with them!"

"Distracted?" Daniel asked with a look of confusion, "How?"

"Well," Vala gestured to herself, "if there like any normal male…"

Daniel merely shook his head. "Right, if you say so," Frowning, "ah…what if their not, as you say normal males?"

Vala simply raked her eyes over Daniel, and grinned, as she turned to lead him out of the shelter, "I'll just leave that to your imagination Darling," she paused to pick up a wooden staff. "And, you should probably also contact your friend," she gestured to the transmitter.

Daniel rolled his eyes at her innuendo and activated the transmitter, "Teal'c."

* * *

**THE PIT**

Jack, Carter and Martouf immediately jump to their feet as the their surroundings begin to rumble and shake.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack shouts.

"Sokar is attacking! We must run!" Random voices shout from above their cell.

"Silly me, ask a stupid question," Jack mutters sarcastically before turning to the others, "we've got to find a way out of here. Any ideas? Come on…now's not the time to be shy people!"

"I think I may have an idea sir!" Sam shouts as a geyser of steam erupts near them, "if we pack that seem with as many rocks…"

"Wait a minute Samantha," Martouf interrupts, "do you hear that?"

"Sounds like a fight!" Jack chimes in. A second later Daniel's face appears over the grating, "Daniel! Perfect timing for once…now get us out of here!"

"Hello to you too Jack," Daniel responded as he opened the grating and lowered the ramp.

"Come on people, lets move it!" Jack gestures to the ramp, "We've don't got all day!"

"Daniel, your all right!" Sam exclaimed as she hugged Daniel after stepping out of the pit.

Before Daniel could respond Martouf and Jack emerged from the pit supporting Jacob between them. "Qetesh!" Martouf exclaimed as he caught sight of Vala.

"You should know better To'kra," Vala said emotionlessly as she glared at both Martouf and Selmak.

"Daniel?" Jack asked as he narrowed his eyes on the woman standing a few feet away from the group.

"She's…"

"She was former host to a Goa'uld," Selmak says weakly as she studies Vala, "and she is correct, Martouf, you should know better," she admonishes.

"Of course, my appology Vala Mal Doran."

"Save them, lets just get out of here!" Vala nods to Daniel, "So just how do we get out of here?"

"Good question….Sam?" He asked absently as he considered the new revelation concerning Vala, "any luck with the memories yet?"

Sam nods as she begins leading them out of the holding area, "we have to get to Bynarr's throne room! From there we can access the ring platform."

"Ah," Jack interrupts, "wouldn't we just end up on old Sokar's ship, not that it wouldn't be an improvement to this neighborhood," he saids as he glances around.

"That could be a problem, but at least once we're off the planet we'll standing a better chance sir."

Jack's reply was cut off by Vala, "didn't you say you had a cargo ship standing by," she asked Daniel.

"Yeah, but what does that…"

"The ring's," she said quickly, "can be intercepted by another ship's ring platform if the ship maneovers itself into the matter streams path."

"I didn't know that," Jack said in surprise, "did you know that Carter?" Sam simply shrugged as she considered the information.

"She is correct," Martouf said as he shifts to better accomadate Jacob's weight, "however it will require very precise timing."

Jack nods, "Daniel tell Teal'c he'll need to do some fancy flying."

"Teal'c! Listen were going to…"

* * *

**Ten Minutes Later:**

"Damn it Vala! Were you trying to get yourself killed?" Daniel's voice sounded throughout the cargo hold as the transport rings deposited the six safely aboard the tel'tak.

"I was trying to get us all out of there alive!" Vala retorted. "And in case you haven't noticed, I succeeded!"

"Only because I managed to pull you in before the rings activated! Otherwise you would have been stuck there while the planet tore itself apart!"

"Well excuse me for stumbling during that quake," Vala said as she crossed her arms defiantly, "perhaps you would have preferred it if one of your injured friends had set the controls?"

"That's not what I meant," Daniel sighed in exasperation, "Look…"

Shaking their heads at the ongoing argument, Jack and the others looked up as Teal'c and Aldwin strolled in. "Hey Teal'c!" Jack said simply as he returned to watching the bickering duel in amusement.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said in greeting with a tilt of his head. "Are you and the others well?"

"Eh," Jack shrugged, "just worked up a sweat. Could use a nice cold one right about now though."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied simply before turning his attention to the ongoing argument. Tilting his head towards Jack, he arched an eyebrow in silent question.

Jack shrugged, "Spacemonkey went and picked himself up a new girlfriend," Jack said with a grin.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Daniel said with a glare as he heard Jack's comment.

"Really now Darling," Vala interrupted before Jack could reply, "no need to be shy," she said with a mischievous grin, "after all you were in my bed!"

Jack's grin grew wider as he looked at his friend, "Daniel you dog you!"

"What! That's not what she meant…. It was completely innocent I…."

* * *


	9. Voices in the Night

**How Daniel and Vala Met: The Alternative Scenarios**

**Voices in the Night**

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimers:** Stargate SG-1 does not belong to me. I am simply borrowing the concepts and characters for my, and hopefully your entertainment.

**Spoilers:** None that I can think of.

**A/N:** Something a bit different. Enjoy and please review.

xxxxx

Daniel sat in the control seat of the stolen Tel'tak familiarizing himself with its flight controls. In the background Jack O'Neill was, much to Daniel's annoyance, being a mother hen. Stifling a groan as Jack began to repeat his instructions for the third time, Daniel finally had enough.

"Jack, I know how to pilot a Tel'tak," he interrupted, "I was sitting between you and Sam when Teal'c was teaching us! Remember?"

"Hey," Jack replied, raising his hands defensively, "I'm just trying to make sure that you remember everything." Pointing at the controls, "This isn't exactly something you take out for a Sunday drive you know."

"Yes Jack, I realise that," Daniel said as he rolled his eyes, "but the course is locked in, its on autopilot and I know enough to deal with anything that comes up. Plus the rest of you are sleeping in the back if anything does happen!"

"True, true, but I'm more than willing to take your shift at the controls," Jack exclaimed somewhat excitedly.

Shaking his head and trying to hide his smile, Daniel looked over his shoulder, "Just go get some sleep Jack," he jerked his thumb in the direction of the cargo hold. "I promise not to plunge us into a black hole." He finished sarcastically.

"Fine," Jack replied as he moved towards the cargo hold, "just make sure you don't get us lost!" He yelled from the cargo hold before the doors closed.

Daniel sighed in relief as the older man left, and wished not for the first time that Jack would stop being so damn protective. "Not likely," he said to himself, as he made himself comfortable in the control chair as the doors to the cargo hold slid shut. Making sure the controls were safely locked in place, he dug out a journal and settled in for a quiet shift.

xxxxx

The ship was deathly quiet, as Vala finished cataloguing the last of the miscellaneous items that were stored in the cargo hold of her newly acquired Tel'tak. Stifling a yawn as she leaned back into the control seat, she took a quick look around the empty ship.

Unbidden a wave of loneliness swept over her, the emptiness of the cargo ship a stark reminder of the life that she had found herself forced into out of necessity. More than once she had considered putting together a crew, to have people she could count on to watch her back, people that she could rely on. The idea, however appealing, was just not workable. She had been burnt, both literally and figuratively, too many times in the past by those that she thought she could trust, from the villagers of her old village to her own father. And even if she had never been betrayed, there weren't exactly a lot of warm feelings for a former host. Besides she always said to herself, the people in her line of work weren't exactly trustworthy, her own father had taught her that much.

As old memories began to surface, Vala quickly shook her head to clear it of the unwanted memories and emotions. No use dwelling on things that can't be changed, she thought to herself, she was who she was.

"I'm not lonely," she murmured to herself, "just bored, that's all!"

Taking a deep breath, she plastered on a smile and turned back to the control console before her. Her eyes trailed over the various controls before her, and came to a stop on the subspace communicator. Her smile suddenly turned mischievous as she reached out to activate the communications system.

"Hello…anybody out there?"

xxxxx

Daniel jerked up out of his seat as a chime rang out from the console before him. Quickly checking the various systems, he found the communications system signalling an incoming transmission. Ignoring it for several minutes, his curiosity over who could possibly be signalling them finally got to him, and he reached out to activate the receiver.

His hand hovered over the activation switch and he cast a glance to the sealed doors of the cargo hold, debating whether or not he should wake the others. Shaking his head, he decided not to bother the others until he actually had an idea of what the signal was about. Besides, he thought to himself, Jack was always complaining about having to constantly deal with the little things that kept popping up. And if this weren't important, he and the others would have to sit through another session of Jack's sarcastic complaints.

Decision made, he flipped the activation switch and almost immediately an accented female voice filtered over the speakers.

"Hello…anybody out there?" It asked.

"Well definitely not looking for us," he said to himself. Good thing I didn't wake the others, he thought to himself, Jack would probably complain that it's the interstellar version of a telemarketer calling after hours.

Shaking his head at the absurdity of that idea, Daniel reached to deactivate the receiver.

"Hello…can anyone hear me?" The voice repeated itself.

His hand paused over the controls as his brows furrowed in confusion. There was something about the voice, that he couldn't quite put his finger on, it was familiar. It was the tone, he decided, there was something underlying in the tone that he found familiar.

Years of studying languages and being the primary negotiator for SG-1 had taught him to look beyond the words, to look at the hidden cues associated with language. Raking his mind, he tried to figure out why this woman's tone of voice was familiar.

His eyes suddenly widen as he realised that the underlying tone reminded him of him. Or at least the way he had been before the Stargate program, when the academic community was shunning him for his 'crazy' theories. There was a hint of loneliness being carefully concealed underneath a cheerful voice, and it sent a resonance through him, one that he couldn't simply ignore.

Taking a deep breath he reached over and flipped the switch to activate the transmitter.

"Hello," he said hesitantly.

xxxxx

"Hello," the male voice filtered out of the speaker. Its sudden appearance nearly caused Vala to jump out of her seat in shock at the unexpected voice.

"Someone actually answered," she said to herself in amusement as she smiled in delight. Whoever it was seemed to sound nice, and his voice seemed to convey a tone of trust, that despite herself, she seemed to want to respond to.

Quickly locking onto the signal, Vala opened a communications channel. "Hello there! You sound handsome are you handsome? I bet your tall dark and mysterious!"

"…."

"Oh come on," she pouted, "it's an easy enough question."

"Right sorry," Daniel's hesitant voice filtered through the speakers, "just wasn't expecting that."

"Oh please," Vala replied, "we're in the middle of space, talking to people we don't even know, you couldn't have possibly been expecting anything like that!"

Daniel chuckled, "I suppose you've got me there."

"But of course," Vala agreed. "And you still haven't answered my question!"

"Well than I'm going to have to disappoint you, because I'm definitely not tall, dark and mysterious," Daniel replied in amusement.

"I bet your lying," Vala teased, "you're probably the type who doesn't know what affect he has on women!"

"Oh you'd be surprised," he said self-depreciatingly, "the type of women I seem to attract," he shivered as images of Hathor, and the alien princess who got him hooked on a sarcophagus came to mind.

"Oh really," Vala leaned forward in interest, "that sounds interesting, do tell.

xxxxx

"…do tell."

Daniel bit his lip at the interested tone of the woman's voice. He didn't know why he had brought up those memories, but for some odd reason he felt he could tell her everything, as if she would intuitively understand him. But that was ridiculous, he thought to himself, it's probably simply because she's a stranger I'll probably never see. But still he wasn't entirely comfortable telling a complete stranger about his messed up love life.

"Ah…look, I'm not really comfortable," he replied to her prompts, "talking about it with a stranger."

"Well I guess I can understand that," Vala replied sympathetically, "and it's easily fixed too!"

"Oh."

"Yep, we'll introduce ourselves! I'll go first. I'm the beautiful, talented and infamous Vala Mal Doran."

Daniel couldn't help but smile at the introduction. "Infamous huh…never heard of you."

"Oh you poor sheltered man, you've been utterly deprived," she teased, "but I'm sure we'll be able to fix that as we chat! Now darling, I believe it's your turn."

"Right," his smile widened at her enthusiasm. "My name's just plain old Daniel Jackson, no infamy what so ever."

Vala laughed, "Somehow I don't quite believe you Mr. plain old Daniel Jackson."

Daniel shrugged before realising she couldn't see the gesture, "Believe what you will."

"Are you sure you want me to?" Vala replied in a flirty tone.

"I'll take my chances," Daniel said dryly a roll of his eyes. He wouldn't admit it, but he was actually enjoying himself.

"Well than, I think I will darling!"

"Go right a head."

"…."

"Vala?"

"…."

"Vala, are you alright?" Daniel asked in concern.

"Oh yes darling…just trying to imagine the body that goes with that voice…naked."

Daniel flushed red, "Stop it."

"If you insist," Vala replied with a laugh, "but you still owe me that story!"

"…."

"Oh if your still uncomfortable," she said with a sigh, "I suppose you could always ask me questions, not that I'll answer all of them, but I'm bored enough that you might get lucky!"

Daniel considered the offer, pondering what he could possibly ask her, when an idea suddenly blossomed in his mind. Two can play at this game, he thought with a smirk.

"Alright than."

"Well, ask away than." Vala prompted.

"O.k. Vala," his voice suddenly took on a husky tone, "what are you wearing?"

Vala broke out into a huge grin as she began laughing. When she regained her breath, she began to give, much to Daniel's embarrassment, a very descriptive accounting of her clothing and the way it looked on her body.

xxxxx

Jack paused as his hand came to the door control panel. He frowned as he heard Daniel talking to someone. Looking back at Carter and Teal'c he received equally blank looks.

"…fraid I've got to go, Jack will be checking up on me soon. Look me up sometime," Daniel said with a chuckle.

"…"

"No, I'm not asking you out on a date…it'd be a get together, maybe coffee, between acquaintances!"

"…."

"Well I suppose," he conceded, "look I really got to go now!"

"…."

"Yeah, you to! And take care!"

Activating the door control, Jack and the rest of the team strolled in, just as Daniel was deactivating the communications system.

Arching an eyebrow, "Talking to the stars Daniel?" Jack asked as he came forward.

"Just reaching out and making friends Jack," Daniel said simply as he got out of the control chair and headed for the cargo bay, "now if you don't mind, I think I'll go take a nap."

Jack looked at the others, who simply shrugged, "Daniel," he began.

"Later Jack, it was a long night."

"Fine, we'll talk later. Grab some shut eye."

"Thanks."

"Yeah yeah whatever," he snorted, "pleasant dreams."

"Don't worry, I plan to," Daniel replied casting a smirk over his shoulder before he existed the control room.

Jack stared at the spot Daniel had been standing before turning to the others. "Did he," pointing to where Daniel had just been, "just insinuate what I think he was insinuating?"

Sam, her mouth opened in shock, simply nodded as she stared towards the cargo hold.

Teal'c inclined his head, and cocked an eyebrow, "Indeed."

"What the hell happened last night?" Jack asked the room.

------------


	10. Childhood Memories

**How Daniel and Vala Met: The Alternative Scenarios**

**Childhood Memories**

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimers:** Stargate SG-1 does not belong to me. I am simply borrowing the concepts and characters for my, and hopefully your entertainment.

**Spoilers:** None that I can think of, maybe a hint or two from Memento Mori and Family Ties.

**A/N: **Figured that at some point Vala would have went and retrieved her things. More than likely it would have been once she was sure that she was staying at the SGC. I figure being made a member of SG-1 would have convinced her that she finally had a place she could call home.

**xxxx**

Vala sighed as she leaned on a table in Sam's lab. Scattered around the lab were the various belongings that she had just recently retrieved from one of her off-world caches. "Is this really necessary?" She asked the members of SG-1 as they examined her things.

Mitchell shrugged as he looked up from a bag on the table, "Sorry Princess, orders are orders. Got to make sure you don't have anything here that might freak out the civilian population up top."

Looking over at Teal'c she turned back to Mitchell, "So you guys rummaged through Teal'c's things too?"

"Ye…"

"They did not," Teal'c interrupted Mitchell.

"What! Now that's hardly fair," Vala exclaimed as she shot them all an outraged look, "What happened to earning your trust and welcome to the team!"

"We do trust you Vala," Daniel said with conviction, "but you've met Woosley," at her nod of understanding, he continued, "and to be completely honest, you've got a lot more things than Teal'c did when he joined us."

"Indeed," Teal'c added.

"Really!"

"Yeah, and we actually did take a look at his armour and staff weapon, which was really all he had." A thoughtful look crossed Daniel's face. "Actually now that I think about it, you're the only alien we've had whose joined us with more than just the clothes on their back."

"Huh," Sam said as she considered the information, "he's right. Teal'c, Cassie and Jonas, none of them had much, and they couldn't really go back for anything."

"Oh," Vala mumbled.

"Hear that Princess," Mitchell said in an attempt to liven things up, "you're a trend setter!"

"Well in that case," she replied with a smile and a wave of her hand, "rummage away!"

Sam looked up apologetically, "I have to say, you do have some rather exotic things here Vala." She said while picking up a small decorative pin that projected a three dimensional image an inch from its surface, "and no offence but some of it's too alien and might draw unwanted attention."

"Hmm, I suppose your right Sam," Vala replied, "after all now that I have Daniel here," flashing him a bright smile, "we wouldn't want him to go into a fit of jealous rage simply because some poor soul couldn't resist staring at my trinkets! Would we darling?"

"Wouldn't worry about that," he muttered.

"Oh I don't know about that Jackson," Cam teased, having overheard Daniel, "after all you pretty much went stir crazy as soon as she," he jerked his thumb at Vala, "went missing." Turning to face Vala, he added, "he was pining away for you!"

"I was not!" Daniel said as he shot a death glare at Cam that clearly said to drop it.

"How sweet!" Vala cooed, "I knew you missed me darling…well actually, no I didn't, since I didn't know you at the time, but I'm sure somewhere in my subconscious I knew you were missing me darling."

"Don't know why I would be," Daniel replied sarcastically.

"Oh don't be like that darling! You missed me and you know it!" Vala replied with a brilliant smile. Pushing a bag towards Daniel, "Now, I think you should probably go through this," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Why," Daniel asked as he cast a dubious glance at the bag now sitting in front of him.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Vala asked with a slight frown, "Were making sure that none of my belongings send you into a fit of jealous rage if other men see me in them?"

"In that case, I definitely don't want to know what's in this bag," Daniel replied as he shoved it over to Mitchell.

"Actually Cam, you better give that to me," Sam said as she cast Vala an amused glance before turning to Daniel, "after all we wouldn't want Daniel to go ballistic on you, now would we?"

"HAHA," Daniel said sarcastically as everyone, with the exception of Teal'c who adopted his I am amused but you can't tell look, broke out in matching grins. Reaching out he picked up a large wooded box, "what's this?"

"That is a box Daniel." Vala replied simply.

"I can see that." He replied with a roll of his eyes, "What's in it?"

"Oh just a few trinkets and declarations of love from admirers. But it's nothing for you to worry about darling." She said offhandedly.

"Probably more like trophies of your conquests." Daniel muttered as he opened the lid. Inside was a collection of different pieces of jewellery. "What do you know," he murmured to himself, but one particular piece caught his attention for being out of place. It was a small Egyptian ankh attached to a string to form a crude necklace.

"Oh these are lovely Vala," Sam said as she leaned over to glance at the contents.

"Why thank you Sam,"

"It's a pity you won't be able to wear any of these."

"Oh that's alright," Vala replied with a dismissive wave, "they're mostly keep sakes, besides I doubt I'll have much time to dress up, what with having to fight the Ori and all."

"Still…" Sam began but was cut off by Daniel.

"Where did you get this," Daniel asked as he held up the ankh.

Vala scrunched up her face as she looked at the necklace, "I'm not sure," she said as she took hold of it, "they're still quite a few blanks," she said referring to her memory, "but…I get the feeling that it was from a childhood crush…" shaking her head to clear her memory she looked back at Daniel, "So don't worry, you don't have to worry about any competition after all this time."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Daniel replied sarcastically, "It looks familiar. Do you mind if I hang onto this for a while so I can check out a few references?"

Biting her lip, Vala looked somewhat reluctant to let him examine it. It must have been important to her despite her lack of memory of it, Daniel thought to himself as he watched Vala.

"I'll be careful with it, and I'll bring it right back after I'm finished with it," Daniel promised her.

"Well I suppose," Vala replied, "but only if you take me out on another date," she said with a hopeful smile.

"It wasn't a date!" Daniel replied automatically, "It wasn't," he exclaimed at the incredulous looks from the rest of SG-1. Sighing he turned to Vala, "Fine I'll take you to dinner, but it's not a date," he emphasised, "now can I please see it."

"Here you go darling," Vala said as she placed the necklace in his open hand.

"Thanks, I'll see you guys later," Daniel replied as he walked out of the lab.

"What was that all about?" Cam asked the room.

"Don't know," Vala exclaimed as she bounced over to Sam. "Sam you have to help me find something to wear for my date," she said as she dragged her out the door.

"Alright Vala!" Sam laughed as she was dragged out the door.

Watching the two women leave, Mitchell shook his head and turned to Teal'c, "Well guess it's just you and me big guy."

**xxxx**

**Flashback Thirty-odd years ago:**

Sitting on a crate playing with her pigtails, Vala huffed a sigh as she looked around the marketplace. She was supposed to have been on an adventure, but here she was gazing out into a marketplace that was like so many others on so many other planets. Granted there were a few interesting sights, like the big animals with the odd humps that some of these people used for transportation, but she had already explored as much of the town and its sights as she could on her own. To put it simply she was now bored.

Leaning back she began to kick at the dirt underneath her feet. The sound of running caused her to look up just as a large canine bowled her over. Laying flat on her back, she barely had the time to regain her breath before large brown eyes appeared in front of her and a warm tongue began to lick her face furiously.

"Ha ha, stop it!" Twisting her head away from the exploring tongue, she tried to push the dog off of her with little success.

"Indy!" A young male voice called out. "Indy! Down boy, down!" Grabbing a hold of the dog's collar he dragged the over excited dog off of Vala.

With the weight of the dog gone, Vala pushed herself into a sitting position and wiped the drool off her face with the back of her sleeve.

"I'm really sorry about that!" The boy's voice interrupting her attempts to get rid of all the slobber. "He just slipped off his leash and wanted to play. He didn't mean to hurt you. Are you alright?"

Looking up into the face of a boy about her age, "its o.k." she replied with a small smile.

Blushing slightly the boy suddenly stuck out his hand, "My name's Daniel, I haven't seen you before, did you just move here?"

"I'm Vala, and no," she replied shaking her head, "my dad is just here looking for business opportunities." Taking hold of the hand, she let herself be dragged up, only to collide with Daniel, when his dog began tugging on the leash, causing them both to tumble to the ground with her on top of him.

Blushing bright red, "S…s…sorry," Daniel stuttered as he looked up at the girl above him, "he gets that way whenever something catches his attention,"

Tilting her head from side to side, Vala examined Daniel before breaking into a huge smile, "Did you know you're cute when you blush!" She exclaimed while nodding at her own conclusion.

Cheeks flushing even redder, "Th…Thank you," he stammered, "Ah, can you please get off me?"

As if noticing her own position for the first time, Vala's own cheeks reddened as she quickly scrambled off of Daniel, "Sorry," she said shyly.

"It's o.k." Daniel replied as he got up off the ground. "So ah, I guess you are new around here. So have you done much exploring?"

"Ah huh."

"Oh…well that's good…ah, I guess I'll see you around," he said before turning to walk away.

Biting her bottom lip, Vala watched Daniel walk away, before running to catch up to him and tugging on his arm. "Wait…what do you do for fun around here?"

"Well I help my parents at their dig sites. Their archaeologists," he said proudly.

"Dig…what do they dig for?"

"Oh they look for old relics and things from a really long time ago."

"You mean like buried treasure," Vala exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he replied with a smile at Vala's excitement.

"Can I help dig?"

"I don't think so, they're in the city right now looking for supplies and talking to people."

"Oh," Vala said with disappointment.

"But…if you want," Daniel flushed as he looked at the ground, "I can show you around, I know you said you've already looked, but there are some neat stories and stuff too. Plus we can play with Indy if you want." Looking back up, he smiled shyly.

"Really!"

"Yeah, if you want."

"Than let's go," she said as she grabbed his arm and dragged him off. "Oh…what's that Daniel?" She asked as she pointed to a random object.

"That's a…."

**xxxx**

**The Several Days Later:**

"Daniel!" Vala exclaimed as she gave him a hug.

"Hey Vala," he said as he returned her hug. "What's wrong," he asked as he caught sight of her expression.

"My dad, he said that it was time for us to leave." She said sadly.

"Oh," Daniel replied, unsure of what to say.

"I'm really going to miss you Daniel! I had a lot of fun with you."

"I had fun too Vala. Will I see you again?"

"I don't think so," she replied sadly, "my dad, says it's too much trouble making it out here."

"Oh…"

"…."

"I'm going to miss you Vala," he said sadly. "When do you have to go?

"Right now, he said I could say good bye before we left."

"So soon," he murmured.

Nodding sadly, Vala gave him another hug, "Bye Daniel," she whispered in his ear before turning to leave.

"Wait Vala," Daniel cried as he ran up to her, "I want you to have this to remember me by," he said as he reached around his neck and removed a small Egyptian ankh hanging under his shirt. "It's the Egyptian symbol for life," he explained as she examined it.

"But it's yours, I can't take this Daniel." Vala exclaimed as she tried to hand it back.

"No," he said as he pushed her hand away, "I want you to have it to remember me by, and if you really don't want it, then you can give it back to me the next time you come back." He said firmly.

"Thank you Daniel," Vala said with a smile, "I'll try to come back some day, alright."

"I'll hold you to that," he said returning her smile.

"I really have to go now Daniel."

"I know. Bye Vala."

"Bye Daniel," she said as she turned a way. A second later she turned around and ran back to Daniel. Before he could say anything she gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran away again.

Daniel simply stood there with a hand on his cheek as he watched Vala disappear in the distance. He waved back to her as she briefly turned to wave at him. When she was out of sight, he turned and with a sad smile walked home.

**xxxx**

**Present:**

"Well I'll be damned," Daniel, said to himself as he looked at the necklace lying on top of an open photo album. "Looks like she kept her promise after all." Pocketing the necklace he went off in search of Vala. But not before taking one last look at the open page and its picture of two laughing children, one of them a younger version of himself, and the other was a girl with long black hair in pigtails, greyish eyes and a devilish smile.

**xxxx**

**A/N2: **While writing this, I've discovered that I can no longer get into the mindset of anyone under the age of ten. So this will probably be the only attempt I will ever make of writing the characters as children. In any event hope you all enjoyed. And please leave a review.

**A/N3: **Seen a lot of young SG-1 meeting stories, but haven't seen one with Vala yet. Maybe this chapter will start something, who knows.


	11. Asgard Matchmaker

**How Daniel and Vala Met: Alternative Scenarios **

**Asgard Matchmaker **

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimers:**I do not own Stargate SG-1 or anything associated with it. I am simply borrowing the characters for my, and hopefully your amusement.

**Spoilers:**Not really.

**A/N:** Well I gave the Ancients a go at the two, now it's the Asgards turn. I saw the episode with Loki going after Jack, because he's suppose to be 'advanced' (probably due to the ATA gene) and it occurred to me that he probably would have been interested in someone who was de-ascended. And of course we all know Vala has special attributes thanks to Qetesh. All this combined to give you the story below. So enjoy and please review. Oh yeah and I noticed I didn't get many hits for the chapter I put up last month, so those of you who probably missed it, please feel free to go back one chapter and check it out!

xxxxxxxxx

Large dark eyes skimmed through the data that was scrolling across the monitors before them. One particular file held his interest until an alert signalled the arrival of a new file keyed to his specific requests. As the new file came up, the individual blinked slowly in rapt fascination at the information that was being displayed. Intrigued by the possibilities presented by the information, the being began to manipulate several controls before him, suddenly two three-dimensional representations of a single DNA strand appeared in the middle of the room.

Quickly taking note of the apparent differences of the two models, the individual tapped in several commands, the model coalesced before leaving only the most recent DNA strand displayed in the room. As he considered the model before him, an idea came to his mind. He quickly began to input a series of variables in which to test the strand.

The testing lasted several hours, however the end results were most interesting. A few tests in the field, he decided, would be required to determine the viability of his hypothesis. The first test subject was relatively easy to find according to the information files. The second one however would be much more difficult to obtain given the nature of the subject. According to what information they had, the subject was notoriously on the move. Still he was confident that he could find the required subject relatively easily.

With that thought in mind, he brought the ship's hyper drive online and began to plot a course for the Milky Way galaxy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Daniel groaned as consciousness came slowly back to him. The previous day's mission had been extremely taxing and he just wanted to sleep the rest of the week away, so with that thought in mind he simply pulled the sheet closer to his body and rolled onto his side.

In the next moment Daniel's eyes shot open as he nearly fell off the narrow surface he had been lying on. "What the hell!" He said to himself, as he quickly hopped off the 'table' he had found himself on. Looking around he found himself in a spacious circular greyish room. It looked oddly familiar, he thought to himself.

A soft moan from behind caused him to spin around. On a table, he mentally noted that it resembled an examination table of some kind, several feet away from where he had awoken laid a figure. In the dim light he couldn't make out much, so he moved closer cautiously to get a better look.

As he approached the table he could make out a dark-haired feminine form lying underneath a thin sheet. Despite the earlier sound, she appeared to still be unconscious. Stopping beside the table, he leaned carefully over the still figure. Not recognizing the woman, he stood back slightly to contemplate what to next.

'Better try to wake her," he thought to himself, 'with any luck she'll be able to tell me what's going on!'

"Ahem," Daniel cleared his throat, "Miss, are you alright? Can you wake up?" He asked the still figure.

Receiving no response, Daniel tentatively reached out to gently shake the woman. As his hand clamped down on her shoulder, greyish eyes suddenly snapped open to stare up at him.

Momentarily mesmerized by the eyes staring up at him, Daniel failed to notice the arm shooting up to his own, still gripping the woman's shoulder, until his hand was twisted violently away. In the next instant he felt the air leave his body as a palm landed dead centre on his chest and he was shoved away. Landing sprawled on the floor breathless, Daniel glanced up to see the woman swing her legs off the table and assume a defensive stance.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Having swung her legs off of the table, Vala quickly settled into a defensive stance. She narrowed her eyes at the man lying sprawled on the floor, trying to catch his breath, as she tried to figure out what had happened to her. The last thing she could clearly remember was piloting her ship into hyperspace. Frowning, Vala tried to recall what had happened next.

Suddenly Vala's eyes widen, and she shot Daniel a scathing look, as memories of a proximity alarm ringing, and the shudder of the ship came rushing back to her, the final memory she had was that of a bright white light engulfing her. The next thing she knew, an unknown voice was trying to rouse her into consciousness and a hand had clamped itself onto her shoulder. Reacting on her survival instincts, her eyes snapped open, and she had only the briefest of seconds to register the blueness of the eyes looking down on her, before she attacked.

She had obviously been attacked, she concluded, the only question was by who. She quickly ran an assessing eye over the man currently picking himself up off the floor. He didn't look familiar and she'd remember someone like him, she thought to herself as she took in his features, 'Yes, definitely would remember him,' she murmured.

So not someone she knew, she thought to herself. 'Still, he could be a bounty hunter,' she said to herself, but the obvious lack of weapons seem to contradict that thought. That was unless he had a high opinion of himself, she concluded.

With no clear idea as to who she was facing, Vala shifted her balance slightly to provide for a better defence, and opened her mouth to question Daniel. She was however; interrupted as Daniel stood up with a glare, rubbing the spot she had struck him, demanding an explanation as to why she attacked him.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Daniel rubbed at the spot on his chest where his fellow prisoner had struck him as he slowly got back onto his feet. Shooting a glare at the raven-haired woman who was assessing him, he shouted, "Why the hell did you do that for?"

Vala merely blinked at his outrage and shot him a look that, no matter the planet of origin every woman seemed to know that plainly said to men, 'what are you an idiot! Why do you think?' "Why? Well let's see," Vala stated calmly as she kept a wary eye on Daniel, " hmm, I was abducted, probably drugged and had a strange man leaning over me!"

Daniel nearly cringed at the look she had sent him, "O.K. I can see how that might have looked," he responded sheepishly, "but you could have at least waited to see if I was a threat before attacking me!"

At the incredulous look she shot him, he sighed, "Alright maybe that was a stupid thing to say considering the circumstances." He conceded.

"Yes it was darling," Vala replied with a smirk. "And just to let you know, I did stop to see if you were a threat," she said while relaxing her stance. "Otherwise we wouldn't be having this lovely conversation."

Daniel simply gawked at her as her grin grew.

"So if your not responsible for getting me into this dreadful bed," she hopped on to the table and patted the space next to her with a smile. "Just who are you, and whose ship are we on?"

Ignoring Vala's gesture to sit next to her, Daniel shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Daniel Jackson and…" Pausing suddenly, Daniel narrowed his eyes at Vala, "wait a minute," he said suspiciously, "just what makes you think were on a ship?"

Biting her lip, Vala silently cursed herself for making Daniel suspicious. Meeting his gaze unflinchingly, "well it's rather simple really," she said patting the space beside her again.

Daniel rolled his eyes at her gesture, "look I'm not going to sit beside you! So why don't you quit with the games and just tell me what you know!"

Vala rolled her eyes and sighed, he just wasn't getting it, she thought as she looked down at her hand resting on the tabletop. "I'm not asking you to sit down next to me. And, if I did, you didn't have to be so mean about it," she said adopting a hurt expression.

Daniel sighed and rubbed his forehead at the sight of the hurt puppy dog expression Vala was sporting. "Fine I apologise," he bit out. 'My God, this woman was already getting to him.' He thought to himself, 'if he didn't know better, he'd suspect she was related to Jack!'

"But what was with the…" he gestured to her hand.

Hopping off the table, Vala grabbed Daniel's hand, dragged him back to the table and placed it flat on the surface. Looking at him expectantly, "Do you feel it," she asked, "the vibration."

Tilting his head slightly, he nodded after a moment, "Yeah. It's faint but it's there! What exactly is it?" He asked with a puzzled expression.

"That my dear Daniel," she replied patting his hand, "is the vibrations from a ship's engine. Though I have to say," she said frowning, "it's more…muted than anything I'm familiar with."

Daniel simply nodded at her observation, his mind racing with this new bit of information as he tried to place the reason for their abduction. Glancing over at the woman beside him, who was once again sitting on the table swinging her legs back and forth, he couldn't help but winch slightly at the poorly hidden accusation he practically threw at her. "Ah…I guess I owe you an apology," at the confused look she gave him, he elaborated, "A real one…for you know…."

"Oh don't worry about it! Let's just say were even for me having knocked you onto your ass." Vala said happily. Before Daniel could respond, she continued, "Besides it's not like I wouldn't have considered kidnapping you," she exclaimed as she raked him over with her eyes.

Daniel felt his cheeks flush at her statement. At a lost as to how to reply, Daniel opened his mouth and went with the first thing that entered his mind. "Ah…who are you again," he asked bluntly.

"Oh silly me," she said turning to face him, "I completely forgot, what with you being so mean to me and all," she said with a frown which quickly transformed back into a smile. "I'm Vala, Vala Mal Doran at your service!" She introduced herself with a flirty grin.

"Nice to meet you…I guess," he murmured.

"You're being mean again," she stated simply.

"Sorry," he replied, hopping onto the table next to her, "not exactly the kind of situation to be meeting new people."

"Oh, I don't know about that," sliding closer to Daniel, she bumped his shoulder with a grin, "the company seems nice enough. Plus with two of us, it might just be easier to get out of here! At the very least," she paused slightly as she waggled her eyebrows, "we can keep each other entertained while we wait for our host to show up!"

Rolling his eyes, and edging slightly away from her, "Do you have to do that?"

"Do what," she asked innocently.

"That," Daniel pointed at her, "the whole flirting thing!"

"I'm just trying to ease the tension darling."

"Well it's not working," he said uncomfortably.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm making the situation _harder_ for you darling," she replied with an amused smirk as she watched Daniel redden.

"Stop it!" Daniel sighed, "Look I'm glad your finding all this fun, but we really got to find a way out of this…" taking a calming breath, he counted to ten before turning back to Vala. "Do you have any idea who grabbed us and why?"

"Well I do have many admirers, and I'm…" Vala preened.

"Stop it."

"If you'd let me finish," she huffed, "I was going to say that none of them would have access to this kind of technology," she said waving her hand around them. "I mean I don't even recognize the design, and believe, me in my business, I know ships!"

"Right," Daniel nodded taking in the information, "could be a new design, but something about it is familiar."

"Familiar how," Vala asked interested.

"Like I've been on something similar….Let me think for a sec." Daniel fell silent as he glanced around him trying to place the familiar feeling.

Leaning back Vala begun to swing her legs back and forth as she waited for Daniel to finish his inspection. 'He's really quite cute when he's thinking,' Vala thought to herself as she watched him.

Vala was suddenly jerked out of her contemplation of Daniel when he suddenly shouted out, "Asgard!"

"What!" Vala asked shock clearly evident on her face.

"It's an Asgard ship! I'm sure of it." Daniel exclaimed excitedly as he jumped up.

"You've been on an Asgard ship before," Vala asked dubiously with a frown.

"A couple of times over the years," Daniel replied. "They're an ally of my people," he added as he caught sight of the look of incredulousness on her face.

"So if they're an ally of your people like you said, than why are you here? Better yet," she said pointing to herself, "why am I here? I can only assume you annoyed them, but myself I've never had any contact with the Asgard, and neither has…" she stopped abruptly.

"Neither has who," Daniel asked curiously.

"No one of importance darling, just an old…acquaintance of mine," Vala replied while absently rubbing the back of her neck, "lets just say she wasn't very popular with certain people shall we."

"O.K., I guess it's not important anyways." Daniel relented as he stared at Vala curiously, "and just for your information, I did not annoy them," Daniel said as he tried to lighten the mood, "I happen to be on good terms with the Asgard."

"Oh," Vala said quirking an eyebrow, "than why…" she gestured to themselves and to the room they were in.

"I don't know," Daniel replied in confusion, "but I'm sure everything will be alright once someone comes to see us. The Asgard are a peaceful and benevolent race."

"The words peaceful and benevolent don't generally involve abducting people darling," Vala said sarcastically.

"Yeah, that kind of has me worried too. But the last time they beamed one of my friends a way, they needed his help. So I'm sure everything will be fine once they explain it to us."

"Well if they wanted help, this isn't the best way for them to do it, I mean really…" Vala was suddenly cut off as a set of doors slid open and a small creature walked in.

"You have awakened," he said simply as he looked at them with large black eyes.

"Daniel," Vala exclaimed as she jumped up and moved to stand behind him, "he's naked," she said simply as she peered over his shoulder.

"Yeah…they don't really do the clothes thing," he whispered to her.

"It's kind of …."

"Freaky, yeah I know, but you get used to it…eventually," Daniel said reassuringly to Vala. Turning to face the unfamiliar Asgard, he stepped forward only to meet an energy shield, "Ah…hi I'm Daniel Jackson and this is Vala Mal Doran, but I think you already know that."

"I am aware of your identities Dr. Jackson," he said simply as he moved towards a set of controls, "I am Loki."

"Nice to meet you Loki," Daniel said pleasantly, "the shields really not necessary, I'm sure if you'll tell us why we're here we'll be more than glad to cooperate." Turning to glance at Vala, "Won't we," he asked.

Vala simply nodded as she continued to stare at the Asgard with wide eyes.

Loki simply blinked impassively at the duo, "I wish for the two of you to procreate," he stated simply.

Daniel felt his jaw drop and his cheeks redden as what Loki said reached his brain and short circuited it. "Wh…wh…what?" he stuttered, not believing what he was just told.

Behind him, Vala wasn't doing much better, though her shocked expression was slowly turning into an amused grin as she looked at Daniel. "Well I guess you were right, they are a benevolent race."

Shooting a glare at Vala, he swung his head back and forth between her and Loki. "This is a joke isn't it," he exclaimed, "I might have known, Loki, as in the Norse god of mischief! Jack got Thor to put you up to this didn't he?" He demanded pointing an accusatory finger at Loki.

Loki simply blinked at Daniel, "I am an Asgard scientist, and I assure you that this is not an attempt at Tau'ri humour," he said flatly, "I require that the two of you procreate."

"Why," Daniel demanded.

"As you may be aware, the Asgard genome is degrading," Loki replied simply.

Nodding, "I read the report, it's because you've been reproducing through cloning for the last ten thousand years," Daniel explained for Vala.

"What, no sex, how boring," Vala murmured. "Wait, ten thousand years," Vala exclaimed in shock.

"We do not speak of it with outsiders," Loki admonished them with a glare.

"That I can understand," Vala said slowly to Daniel, who simply shot her a look to drop it.

"Be that as it may," Daniel began, "what exactly does that have to do with us?"

"You Dr. Jackson were once ascended, but have retaken human form. Preliminary analysis of your DNA indicates minor areas of interest. You Vala Mal Doran were once a long time host to a Goa'uld; since separation you have retained many of the attributes and abilities associated with such a possession. In addition, unlike other former hosts, you show no signs of physical or mental instability. Though alone neither genetic sample is enough to address the problems facing the Asgard; however, it is my hypothesis that the offspring of a once ascended human and that of a human who was, altered as a result of being, host to a Goa'uld could very well represent the next stage of human evolution." Loki responded clinically.

Daniel and Vala both stared at each other over the revelations that Loki had revealed concerning the other. Lost in thought the two continued to stare at each other as Loki continued to manipulate controls.

"Well darling," Vala said trying to break the silence, "at least we'll know our children would be special," she said lightly.

"Not going to happen," Daniel said turning to address Loki, "You can't just expect us to go along with this! You've already scanned our DNA, isn't that enough?"

"No. I would need the actual DNA for testing, and I was led to believe that humans were uncomfortable with the extraction probe," Loki said simply. At the look of bewilderment on Vala's face, and the uncomfortable paleness that settled on Daniel's, he continued, "In addition, it would be best to sample the DNA of the expectant offspring from a source that was created via the natural evolutionary process. Sex, I believe you refer to it as," he concluded simply.

"But…you just can expect…." Daniel sputtered.

"I think what Daniel is trying to say," Vala said helpfully, "is that this is hardly the place or the situation where it is comfortable to be procreating," she said with a roll of her eyes as she noticed Daniel nodding enthusiastically to what she had been saying.

Blinking slowly as he looked up at them, Loki tilted his head slightly as he contemplated what Vala had just said. "I understand," he said much to Daniel's relief, "you require a…'mood,' I believe is how you humans refer to it as."

Much to Daniel's horror and Vala's startled amusement; Loki manipulated a series of controls. A flash of white light filled the room, and a large round bed, with what appeared to be red silk sheets covered in rose petals appeared in the middle of the room. Next to it sat a bucket with a bottle of champagne and two glass flutes. And that wasn't all, as the music of Barry White was piped into the room, Daniel jerked his head violently to gaze at the Asgard standing there blinking innocently.

"What the hell…" He blurted out.

"I have set the 'mood,' as portrayed in your electronic visual transmissions," Loki said simply.

'I've really got to talk to Sam about the stuff that's being beaming into space,' was the thought that ran through Daniel's mind at the surreal situation. This was followed by a wave of panic as another thought arose, 'I've got to get out of here before SG-1 comes to the rescue! Jack will never let me live down being abducted for an alien sex experiment!'

"I will return after you have completed the mating session," Loki said as he walked out of the room.

"Wait a sec…" Daniel called out, but the Asgard had already disappeared. "Well what do you…" he said turning to Vala. His question however, died on his lips as he saw Vala lying face down on the bed burying her face into the pillow.

Sighing, he moved towards Vala, "Ah…what are you doing?"

Vala looked up at him, still clutching the pillow, "oh these are wonderful Daniel, and they're so soft," she replied, emphasising her statement by rubbing her cheek into the pillow, "what are they made of?"

Chuckling at her childish behaviour, he sat down on the edge of the bed, "it's silk. And once you're done playing, we really have to figure out how to get out of here."

"Well there is one way," she said with a seductive smile.

"Yes there is that," he replied with a roll of his eyes, "but somehow I don't think he's going to let us go until you're…" his voice trialed off.

"Pregnant." She supplied helpfully.

"Yeah…that." Daniel said as he avoided her eyes.

"You can say it Daniel, it's not a dirty word," she said in exasperation. "And while I'm sure that we'd both enjoy the many, many, many times," she grinned at the nice shade of red Daniel was turning, "that it would take to get me pregnant. I'm less sure about being someone's science project for the next nine months and beyond."

"At least we're in agreement. So got any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"As much as I hate to say it…we fake it!"

"Fake it," Daniel asked uneasily.

"Like this," she said as she pulled his head down into the crook of her neck. As she held it there, she started to make slight whimpering and moaning sounds. Moving her mouth close to Daniel's ear, she whispered, "He's got to be monitoring us. Otherwise how would he know if we finished a session as he put it?"

Daniel only nodded as he fought the urge to shower her delectable neck with kisses. Unfortunately, he thought, the sounds she was making was making it very difficult for him to remember that it wasn't real, and that they were only playing for time. Nevertheless he found his hands wandering to places where they really shouldn't. And he didn't really care.

As he lowered them down onto the bed, Daniel broke away briefly to stare into Vala's grinning face as she somehow managed to throw the outer sheet over them, hiding them from view. "Make it look good darling!"

Daniel returned her grin with his own as he buried his face in her hair.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Ahem…Daniel," a voice broke through Daniel's concentration. 'I know that voice, he thought to himself, 'but from where.' Vala frowning up at Daniel's lack of concentration reached up and brought his lips back down to hers. He soon forgot the voice calling to him.

"Daniel," the voice persisted, this time laced in amusement, and suddenly he froze as he recognized the voice. Throwing the blanket off and rolling off of Vala, he looked up into the amused faces of SG-1 and a Major that he didn't know.

"Hey guys…" he greeted them warily.

"Hello Daniel," Jack replied with a huge grin, "we're here to rescue you, but somehow I'm thinking," his gaze shifted to Vala, "you don't want rescuing."

"Indeed," Teal'c murmured as the corner of his mouth quirked in amusement; while Sam did her best to hide her laughter behind her hand. The unknown Major just looked shocked.

"No, no we want rescuing don't we Vala?"

"Yes," she said while blowing a tuff of hair out of her face, "though they could have waited a bit!"

"Well we could come back a little later," Jack said with a smile, "Right guys?"

"Indeed." "Yes, sir." Teal'c, Sam and the Major all responded at the same time.

Shooting them all a glare he turned to Jack, "that's quite alright Jack, you weren't interrupting anything. We were just playing it up for Loki until he came to check up on us."

"Daniel," Jack said with a raised eyebrow, "that's has got to be the lamest excuse I have ever heard. I mean I might have believed it," he said as Daniel sent him a death glare, "if it weren't for the romantic setting, the music and champagne, not to mention the hicky on the lovely young lady's neck!"

Daniel's face flushed as he turned to Vala who wore a toothy grin. Sure enough there was a hicky on her neck. Burying his face in his hands, he simply asked, "How did you find us?"

"Called Thor, after Mitchell here," he jerked a finger over at the exited man standing next to Teal'c and Sam, "stumbled onto your imperfect clone."

"Clone, there's a clone of me running around," Daniel asked.

"Oh, two Daniels," Vala asked in glee. "Does this mean there's another me running around out there?"

"God I hope not," Daniel murmured, only to cry out as Vala swatted him in the chest.

"That wasn't very nice darling," she said as she swatted him again for good measure. "So," she said turning to SG-1 who was looking on in amusement, "is there another me?"

"I am afraid not Miss Mal Doran," Thor replied as he entered the room with Loki. "Loki did not create a clone of you."

"There was no need," Loki interjected, "former hosts hardly have anyone willing to look for them if they go missing."

Daniel shot Loki a glare and pulled Vala into a comforting hug when she stiffened at Loki's words. The rest of the team simply watched the two.

"So, what happens to him now," asked Daniel as he nodded at Loki.

"He will be brought before the Council for judgement," Thor replied, "your clone has already expired, due to Loki's incompetence. The Asgard apologise to the two of you for this unfortunate situation. In addition, Miss Mal Doran, we will replace your ship that Loki destroyed."

"Well, you know you could leave her this one," Jack interjected, "Right didn't think so. Worth a try though," Jack said as he caught the look Thor sent him.

"Pity," Vala remarked, "I was rather beginning to like it," she said looking over at Daniel with a smile.

Coughing to hide his grin, Daniel turned back to Thor, "What about what he was saying about our DNA?"

"While it is true, that any offspring," Thor began, "the two of you produce together could be a significant step in human advancement, it is far too soon to predict how that advancement would develop or even if it would help address the Asgard problem."

"Well you know," Vala interrupted, "it seems to me that the problem with your clone bodies, is that you… well…left out the fun bits," she said with a smile.

The sincere tone of voice that Vala had used, caused Jack to grin, Daniel sputtering, Sam to nearly choke, Teal'c to raise an eyebrow in amusement, and Mitchell to be torn between amusement and fear that the little alien would space them.

Thor merely blinked and nodded, "I shall pass that information onto our scientists Miss Mal Doran."

"Well since that's all settle," Jack said as he tried to shake the smile off his face, "why don't you beam us all back to the SGC. I'm sure Daniel and Vala here," he gestured to the two, "are anxious to get back to the betterment of humanity," he said with a grin.

"Jack don't…" Daniel began, but was cut off by Vala.

"Oh can we take these lovely sheets with us, or can we get our own," Vala said with glee as she wrapped her arms around Daniel's waist.

"Oh, I can't wait for this debriefing," Jack said with amusement to the others, who nodded in agreement. In the next instant they were all swept up by the Asgard transporter.


	12. First Contact

How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternate Scenarios

**How Daniel Met Vala: The Alternate Scenarios **

**First Contact**

**By acer-sigma**

**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, just borrowing for my own and hopefully your amusement.

**Spoilers:** Not really, but a few names and ideas were taken from S4's The Curse.

* * *

"_How could you do it Daniel? How could you just throw everything away like that over a ridiculous theory?"_

"_I didn't throw everything away over a ridiculous theory Sarah! The evidence supports my conclusions of cross-cultural pollination!"_

"_Your 'evidence,'" she said with a role of her eyes, "claims that aliens were responsible for not only building the pyramids but also for establishing most of the ancient world as we know it!"_

"_Sarah, I know it sounds farfetched but the evidence…"_

"_It's not just farfetched Daniel, it's a fantasy! I thought we had agreed that you wouldn't present 'that' paper until you had enough hard evidence."_

"_Actually you agreed, I said I'd think about it."_

"_Daniel, do you realize the embarrassment you've caused Dr. Jordan and the rest of the department?"_

"_Damn it," he ground out, "this has nothing to do with Dr. Jordan!" _

"_Yes it does, he supported you! And this is how you repay him!"_

"_That's not fair Sarah, and you know it! Jordan encouraged me to follow the evidence and I did, it's not my fault that the academic community isn't open to new ideas!"_

"_New ideas are based on facts! Not what we wish for," she sighed, "Daniel, I don't understand this obsession you've developed."_

"_It is not an obsession!"_

"_Yes it is! You won't listen to anybody else; we all warned you how this would be received but you just ignored us, you ignored me….I don't think I know who you are anymore."_

"_What are you saying Sarah?"_

"_I think," she said flatly, "it'd be best if we didn't see each other anymore until you've come to your senses." _

"_Sarah…."_

"_Goodbye Daniel," she said as she turned and walked out the door. _

* * *

It had been several months now, and yet Daniel still couldn't entirely get the last conversation he'd had with Sarah out of his head. She was smart to break it off when she did; he thought to himself, the months following his presentation had been nothing but ridicule and scorn. The academic community wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole, unless it was to hit him with it. Dr. Jordan had wanted to defend him, but he couldn't let the man throw his own career away to defend a pariah, so he had quit.

Which brings him to this deserted road in the middle of nowhere, driving to an equally deserted cabin to think over his future. Not as if he had much of one left. The academic community didn't want him, which left the business community. The very thought of working to exploit a culture so some corporation could get a massive tax break didn't exactly sit well with him. "Not like I'll have much of a choice," Daniel said to himself, "though I suppose I could go on the alien conspiracy circuit," he said with a snort.

Deciding that it would be best not to mope while driving, Daniel tried to relax, and turned on the stereo, all he got was static. "Wonderful," he said aloud, "what else could possibly happen?"

His question was abruptly answered when an object shot over his head and skidded to a halt in a clearing ahead of him. Thinking a plane had gone down; he quickly increased his speed and sped off towards the downed craft.

* * *

Vala cursed as her cargo ship exited hyperspace. "This is the last time I steal a ship from that lowlife Maltz," she murmured to herself as she fought to keep the ship on course. "The man can't even keep his own ship properly maintained!"

The navigational systems were a mess and helm control weren't any better, how the ship's former owner managed to survive using it was beyond her. The blasted thing had spit her out of hyperspace into an unknown star system, and was threatening to leave her stranded out here in the middle of nowhere. If she was going to survive, she was going to have to set down somewhere and make repairs.

Quickly scanning the system, she found the nearest habitable planet, and set course for it, while fighting the controls all the way. With any luck, she thought to herself, the repairs will be easy enough, if not she hoped the planet at least had a stargate she could use.

As the ship entered the atmosphere, the controls became less responsive, and Vala found herself fighting to keep the ship from breaking up or plowing her into the ground. As it was, she just barely managed to avoid skimming the top of some strange boxy contraption that was traveling on the ground below her. Unfortunately, that little maneuver cost her, as the thrusters suddenly gave out and the ship dropped to the ground.

At the very last minute, Vala managed to divert power to the vertical thrusters and bring the ship down in a jerky fashion. As the ship came to a halt, she was almost thrown from the control yolk by the rough landing. Shaking the hair out of her face, she rose to make an inspection of the damage when the proximity alarm went off. "Looks like the locals want to say hello," she muttered to herself as she glanced at a console. Lets hope they're friendly, she thought to herself as she grabbed a zat'ni'katel and made for the outer hatch intent on making a memorable appearance.

* * *

Daniel could only stare in shock as he brought the jeep to a halt in front of the obviously alien ship. "Definitely not a plane," he said quietly to himself.

Shaking off his stupor, his natural curiosity kicked in, as he climbed out of his vehicle and moved to get a closer look at the vessel. It was a strange triangular shape, was his first thought, his second was that maybe he finally had that solid evidence that Sarah had been raving at him about. He quickly put those thoughts out of his mind as he realized that someone could have been seriously hurt from the rough landing. "Hope they're friendly," he muttered to himself.

Moving purposefully he circled the craft looking for a way in, stopping several times, once when he noticed slightly familiar hieroglyphics on the hull, and secondly when he attempted to look through what he assumed to be the cockpit window. Seeing no sign of life or anyway in, Daniel made his way back to the hieroglyphics in hopes that they may reveal something.

As he studied the symbols in front of him, the section before him suddenly slid away and he was blinded by an intense light. Squinting his eyes, he raised his arm in an attempt to block out the light. As he did so, a figure appeared and began walking towards him, causing him to back away and stumble onto the ground.

"Oh boy," Daniel muttered as he looked up into the amused smile of a beautiful raven haired woman standing over him.

"That's a bit of a strange greeting isn't it?" The woman asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Huh…," shaking off his confusion, at her Australian sounding accent, what she said finally registered, "oh, ah yeah, sorry about that. You kind of surprised me there," he said scratching the back of his head, when suddenly it hit him that he was most likely speaking to an alien. "Ah, how is it that we can understand each other? I mean you are from another planet aren't you?" He said gesturing to the ship. Suddenly he perked up, "do you have some sort of universal translator or something that allows us to communicate? Cause that would really be amazing, and…."

Vala simply stared at the sprawled man in amusement as he continued to ramble on about translation mechanisms and about something called 'science fiction.' She had to admit that the thought of a translation machine would be highly useful; however his mention of translator microbes sent shivers up her spine at the thought of 'hosting' anything else at the base of her skull.

Deciding that she had let him ramble on enough, she flashed him a disarming smile. "To answer your questions," she interrupted him, "yes, I am not native to your world. Secondly, I can understand you because your language is remarkably similar to ones spoken on several other worlds that I am familiar with."

"Really, that's amazing!" Daniel replied as his mind raced with the possibilities, "that would seem to indicate that there's some sort of root or commonality between the planets. How..."

Holding up her hand to halt the flow of questions, she asked, "I take it that by your reaction, that 'visitors' aren't common around here?" At his nod, she continued, "well that's just wonderful, I'll assume than that that means you've also never heard of the chappa'ai?"

"The gateway of the gods," He said in confusion.

"If that's what you want to call it," she said with a of tone distaste. Sighing at Daniel's look of confusion she explained, "What it is is a gateway, developed by a race referred to as the Ancients or the Gate builders that establishes a wormhole between planets. You walk through one end and you end up somewhere else. It's really the only way to travel."

Daniel stared at her in awe, "that's amazing! So you think there's one of these 'stargates' on Earth?"

"Is that what this quaint little planet is called? How unimaginative. Stargate… huh I like the sound of that, and I was hoping there might be one, they're kind of noticeable, so if you don't know about them then I'm thinking there isn't one here, unless its buried or something, in which case its useless to me." Sighing she turned to look at her ship, "Guess, I'm just going to have to do repairs and hope for the best," turning back to Daniel she asked, "I don't suppose you know anything about hyperspace relay repairs?"

"Ah sorry, can't help you there."

Shrugging her shoulders, she turned back to the ship, having decided that the inquisitive man was basically harmless, "Pity. Oh well, guess I'll just have to do it myself." Looking over her shoulder, "Feel free to stand around and gawk, just don't touch anything!"

Daniel could only nod as she stepped back into the ship. A moment later his mind caught up to him and he finally registered what she had said. Quickly he followed her into the ship and was transfixed by the sights. Looking around, he heard movement in the room ahead of him and moved towards it.

As he entered what appeared to be the control room, he stood frozen at the sight of the alien woman knelling in front of a control panel cursing. He tried to tell himself that it was the strange alien language, that sounded vaguely Egyptian, and not the sight of her shapely posterior encased in tight leather that had captured his attention.

Not realizing he was staring, he was suddenly brought out of his stupor at the sound of a clearing throat.

"Enjoying the view?" Vala asked in amusement when she caught sight of his gaze.

"Yes…no…yes…I mean…sorry," he stuttered, "everything is just so amazing," he gestured to the ship.

"Oh this old thing, just something I picked up, it's not much but it does have its uses."

"So, are you going to be able to fix it?"

Sighing, Vala glanced at the terminal she had been inspecting, "Eventually, but it'll take a bit of time," she said sadly, "few days at the very least!"

"So you're basically stuck here, until you can get everything fixed?"

"Pretty much, your planet is pretty much out of the way, so I'll need to at least get the hyper-drive working temporarily to reach the nearest stargate."

Daniel nodded at her explanation, when suddenly a worried thought came to mind, "You can't really stay here!" At her questioning expression, he elaborated, "While fixing your ship, you can't stay here, it's too noticeable and the military might come around if they tracked you."

"Right," she nodded in consideration, "not too many foreign visitors." At Daniel's sheepish look, she continued, "well, not to worry, I'll just hide everything!"

"Hide everything… How?" He asked, of her declaration, as he gestured to the ship, and thinking she had gone crazy. "It's kind of too big to hide don't you think?"

She grinned at his statement, "Your not one of those men who are concerned about size are you?" she teased as she looked him up and down. At his reddened cheeks and sputtering, she decided to take pity on him, "Don't worry I'm only kidding, honestly your so easy!"

Honestly Daniel thought to himself, he had no idea what to say to that.

"As for the ship, I should be able to move it somewhere, than it's all a matter of engaging the cloak and no one will be the wiser!"

"Oh." Sounded simple enough Daniel thought, "So you're just going to hide out in here till you leave?"

"Well, I'll admit it's not the most glamorous of accommodations, but it's not like I have much of a choice."

"Actually," Daniel said taking a deep breath, "you could stay with me until you're ready to leave, I mean the place I'm staying at is out of the way and there's plenty of room."

"Why?" Vala asked suspiciously.

"Well, you need a place to stay, and well you seem…harmless." He winced at his last bit of reasoning as she cocked an eyebrow in amusement at his 'harmless' comment.

"And…what exactly do you expect for… payment?" She asked as her voice turned icy.

Unsure of her sudden change in attitude, he tried to explain his reasons, "Well, you don't have to…," when he suddenly realized what she might have been implying, "no, no you've got it all wrong, not that your not attractive or anything, cause you are, it's just that…." As her expression turned to one of amusement, he took a deep breath, "Look, I'm an archeologist," at her confused expression, he elaborated, "I study civilizations, and quite frankly you're a treasure trove…"

"A treasure am I?" Vala interrupted with a smile.

"Of information yes," Daniel said in exasperation, "what was with this woman, maybe this was a bad idea." He said to himself.

"Whatever you say darling," Vala exclaimed as she took on a thoughtful look. "Just let me see if I understand your proposition," she said putting emphasis on the last word, "you'll let me stay with you in exchange for answering your questions about the great beyond," she said waving her hand above her.

"Yes that's pretty much what I'm suggesting."

"Well than, who am I to turn down such a generous offer," she said with a bright smile, "you have yourself a deal!"

"Great!" Daniel exclaimed excitedly, reaching out to shake her hand. At her confused expression, he explained, "it's an earth custom; we shake hands in greeting or as a way of informal agreement."

"Oh." Extending her own hand self-consciously, she clasped his forearm in the manner that she often seen Jaffa do. She smiled as his hand clasped her forearm.

Daniel smiled as her hand clasped his forearm, rather than his hand. "Close enough," he said as he followed suit. "By the way, I never did get your name?"

"It's Vala Mal Doran."

"Dr. Daniel Jackson, it's a pleasure to meet you Vala." He said with a smile.

"Likewise Daniel." She said as she returned his smile.

They remained quiet for a few minutes before Vala broke the silence, "So where exactly am I staying?"

"Well, why don't you get your ship hidden away, and I'll show you."

"Sounds good to me. Care to watch?" She said as she moved to the piloting station.

"Sure."

* * *

**Two weeks later:**

Daniel never thought he'd be in a situation quite like the one he had found himself in. If someone had told him that he would be sharing a cabin with a beautiful alien woman after having been all but kicked out of the academic community, he would have thought that they were setting him up for more ridicule. And yet, that was the exact situation he had found himself in. And he had to admit, he was enjoying himself.

He found Vala to be an extremely intelligent and resourceful woman. When he had told her how his thesis had led to him being in the middle of nowhere, she had, smiled and said that it was fate that brought them together, she then went on to provide some surprising revelations that had allowed him to refine his ideas. Still the revelation of the Goa'uld and their probable role in Earth history had made him shudder.

Then of course there was her natural curiosity and exuberance over the littlest things. It was extremely refreshing, though he had to admit her somewhat liberal view of sexuality had caught him off guard, not that he wasn't flattered by her attention, but it had surprised him to be the recipient of such attention. He was going to miss her when she left, he thought to himself in amusement.

The sound of the door opening brought Daniel out of his musings, he frowned when he glanced at his watch, he wasn't expecting Vala back from repairing her ship for another hour or so. Shrugging his shoulders he settled back into his research. "I'm back here Vala," he called expecting her to join him for another one of their chats when she was ready.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a soft voice calling to him, "Daniel…who's Vala?"

"Sarah!" He exclaimed looking up in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to," she said as she came to stand over his desk, "see if you were ready to drop this nonsense and come back to the university." Glancing over the contents of his desk, she rolled her eyes as she looked back at Daniel, "But I'm guessing your not quite ready to do it yet," she said as she gestured to his papers.

"We've been through this before Sarah," Daniel said with a sigh. "Look…."

* * *

Having finished recalibrating the hyper-drive's operating systems, Vala walked quickly back to the cabin that she had found herself sharing with Daniel, while she was stuck on this little planet. Surprisingly, what should have taken her a day, or two at most, to properly repair had actually stretched into two weeks. Granted she had actually finished the initial repairs rather quickly but for some unknown reason, she had felt compelled to expand the repairs into a near overhaul of the tel'tak's systems.

'You know why,' her subconscious told her, 'it's because of him.' Vala slowed her pace with a sigh as her thoughts turned to the unassuming earthman she had met. There was something about Daniel Jackson that intrigued her. His curiosity and enthusiasm, for what she could tell him about life on other worlds, was rather endearing in a way. It had been a very long time, she thought, since anyone had ever really 'wanted' to know anything that she had to offer that wasn't physical. And that was another thing, she thought, he actually treated her like a worthwhile human being rather than as a former host, a thief, or even as the 'sex on legs' that he had one night referred to her as.

She hadn't realized just how lonely the past two years had been, since she was freed from Qetesh, so focused on survival she hadn't let anyone of consequence get close to her. Yet somehow, Daniel had managed to worm his way past her defenses without even trying to. She was, she realized, going to miss him when it was time for her to leave.

With that dreary thought in mind, she quickly sped up her pace intent on spending as much time with Daniel as she could. As she neared the cabin, she slowed down as she noticed a vehicle, a car Daniel had called them, sitting outside.

Deciding it would be better to wait out of sight until whoever it was had left, she looked for someplace to conceal herself. Raised voices coming from the cabin however, changed her mind and she raced up the steps in concern for Daniel.

* * *

"Damn it Daniel, can't you see what this obsession is going to do to your career? What it would do to us?" Sarah said as she attempted to convince him to retract his thesis.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Daniel rolled his eyes, "I was under the impression," he said calmly, "that there is no us. Or was I mistaken when you walked out after I refused to retract my thesis?"

Walking over to Daniel, she placed a hand on his arm, "Daniel…" she began, but was interrupted by the opening front door.

Vala walked in, "Daniel is everything...," she began, but stopped at the sight of an attractive redhead who was practically attempting to drape herself over Daniel.

"Who's she Daniel," Sarah asked with disdain as she looked Vala over.

"That's Vala, a friend of mine Sarah," Daniel said quickly. This can't be good, he thought, as he took in Vala's confused expression and Sarah's angry demeanor.

"Vala? What kind of name is Vala?" Sarah asked, as she moved away from Daniel so she could see the both of them clearly.

"I'll have you know,' Vala bristled, "that it's a very lovely and unique name!"

Ignoring her, Sarah glared at Daniel, "Just who is she Daniel!"

"I told you already, she's a friend of mine." Daniel said calmly as he gave Vala a reassuring smile. A smile which she returned in kind.

Sarah seethed when she saw the brief exchange. "Funny, we have a lot of the same friends, and I definitely would have remembered a hussy being one of them!"

"She's not a hussy!" "I'm not a hussy!" Both Daniel and Vala shouted at once.

"Humph…well what else do you call someone dressed like that," she said dismissively as she gestured to Vala's leather clothing, "while out in the country?"

"The word unique comes to mind," Daniel said quickly before Vala could reply.

"Daniel, is she the reason you're acting so out of sorts? Is she one of those alien conspiracy nuts? Are you trying to impress her by being a 'rebel'?"

Sighing in exasperation, "I told you already Sarah, I stand by my research and my conclusions. Vala has nothing to do with what happened. She's my friend and I won't stand for you implying anything negative about her!"

"She's bad news Daniel, I can tell just…"

"That's enough Sarah! I think its time you left," Daniel said as he pointed to the door.

"Daniel…" At the look he gave her, she turned and marched to the door; pausing briefly she looked over her shoulder and glared at Vala, who stuck her tongue out at her, before turning to look at Daniel. "You're making a big mistake Daniel!"

"That's what you said about my thesis," he said thinking about the recent discoveries he had come across in his talks with Vala, "and despite everything, I wouldn't change that decision for anything."

"Fine!" With that, Sarah sent him a nasty glare and walked out, slamming the door in the process.

Walking over to Vala, Daniel stopped in front of her, "sorry about that!'

"It's alright," Vala said simply, "so…ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah," he replied sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"She's seems…nice."

"She's not particularly happy with me. She thinks I threw everything away for a crazy theory about aliens," he said as he gave her a wary grin.

"But you were right!" She said returning his grin.

"True, but I didn't have you to tell me that!"

Vala bit her lip in thought for a moment, "Daniel, what if I…"

"No Vala!" He said gripping her shoulders, "I don't want you exposing yourself that way!"

"But I could prove…"

"No! You're more important to me than proving that I'm right. Besides," he said with a smirk, "they might think you're a fruitcake, then where would I be?"

Vala swatted him on the chest, "I'm not sure what that is, but I don't think it was polite….Thank you!"

"Huh."

"For not wanting me to risk myself and for standing up for me earlier," she said as she hugged herself. "It's been a long time since anyone has cared." She said quietly.

"Well I do," he said simply as he enveloped her in a hug, as memories of what she had told him about her own past, when her nightmares had awoken them, came to mind. "Hey," he said tentatively after a few moments, "I was thinking…"

"That's news?" Vala teased as she tightened her grip on Daniel, relishing the hug and the comfort it offered.

Daniel leaned back slightly and sent her a glare, which soon broke into a slight grin. "As I was saying, I was thinking that when you leave, that I might…well, that is if you don't mind…"

"Daniel?" She said tentatively as her heart started to beat faster.

Taking a deep breath, he looked her straight in the eyes and asked simply, "would you mind some company?"

He wanted to come with her; she thought to herself, he actually wanted to leave his world with her. She felt ecstatic, but than her thoughts took on a darker vein.

"Daniel, I'm not sure that's a good idea," she said simply as she broke the hug and stepped back.

"What why not," Daniel asked as his thoughts raced out of control. His only coherent thought was that she didn't enjoy his company. Had he misread her, he asked himself, he thought she had enjoyed their time together and the conversations they shared.

Vala considered lying to him, to just tell him she didn't want to have to look after someone from a primitive backwater world. But he was kind to her, she thought, he deserved the truth. "It's dangerous out there Daniel! And as much as I would miss you, I couldn't bear to stand by if something were to happen to you!"

It wasn't that she didn't want him to go with her, she was worried about him, Daniel thought to himself as relief swept through his body. "Vala," he began as he took her hands in his, "I understand it might be dangerous." Seeing her about to interrupt he continued," from what you've told me it could be deadly….but I'm willing to take that chance."

"Daniel…"

"Vala listen to me. If I don't go with you, I'll miss you! Not only that, but I'd be worried to death that something had happened and I'd never see you again. At least this way, I'll be able to make sure you don't get into too much trouble," he teased.

Her heart warmed at the reassurance, but she still wasn't sure about taking him with her. Her resolve, however, melted as she looked into his eyes.

"What about your life here?"

"In case you didn't notice, my career isn't exactly going well. As for everything else, I may miss it, but this is the opportunity of a life time, and I'm sure I can always come back. Sides," he said with a grin, "I'd miss you and our little conversations!"

"Fine," Vala said sternly, "but I'm in charge…and if you don't do what I say," she continued as a grin spread across her face, "you might just find yourself stuck on some planet somewhere," she concluded.

"Understood Captain," he said teasingly as he saluted her before enveloping her in a hug, which she enthusiastically returned.

* * *

**Two Days Later:**

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'm positive Vala!"

"I'm just warning you that your life is about to get a whole lot more interesting," she said with a large smile.

"It got a whole lot more interesting, the day you showed up," Daniel said affectionately as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "now are you going to fly or talk?"

In response Vala activated the thrusters and sent the ship soaring skyward out of the atmosphere.

"Very funny," Daniel cried out as he gripped the back of her seat.

"I told you things were about to get more exciting Darling," Vala said in amusement as she entered coordinates for a hyperspace route.

* * *

A phone rang incessantly within the empty cabin. After a few more rings, the answering machine picked up, "Hello, this is Daniel Jackson, I'm not in at the moment, so please leave your name, a number and brief message and I will get back to you at the earliest opportunity!"

"Hello Doctor Jackson, this Doctor Catherine Langford I'm currently recruiting for a special project. I am looking for people who are willing and able to think 'outside the box.' Having reviewed your recent thesis, I believe….."

* * *

**A/N: **Well this one was a little longer than I had intended but I think it might actually work. I had intended for Vala to leave Daniel behind so he would eventually be recruited into the Stargate Program, but than I remembered the episode with the Quantum Mirror and how Daniel was never a part of the program. This I think would have been an interesting reason why. Anyways if you reached this part, then please review and let me know what you think.

**A/N2:** Also I'm thinking of opening this up a bit and taking suggestions for other alternative meetings. So any suggestions, I'll take a look and see what I can craft together.


End file.
